A preliminary report of the HTK randomized multicenter study comparing kidney graft preservation with HTK and...

The main goal of transplantation is to restore good renal function and to improve the quality of life of thousands of dialysis patients, something which can only be achieved by providing them with well functioning grafts. Delayed renal allograft function is a serious problem. It is important to prevent this complication because it makes the diagnosis of acute rejection in the early postoperative period difficult, increases the necessity for diagnostic procedures, introduces dialysis treatments and prolongs hospital stay. The aetiology of delayed graft function (DGF) is multifactorial, and factors including donor management, technique used for organ procurement and preservation, age, anatomical variations in the graft, ischemia periods, use of cyclosporine A (CyA) or recipient immunological reactions have been implicated. Using different preservation solutions DGF rates vary from 30% to 60%. Recent clinical data have demonstrated better preservation and improved renal function posttransplant with HTK and University of Wisconsin (UW) solutions compared to EuroCollins solution. In a randomized multicenter study in collaboration with the Eurotransplant organ exchange organization, the efficacy of the HTK solution in renal transplantation was compared to EuroCollins and UW solutions in two parallel prospective randomized trials. The first preliminary results comparing HTK and EuroCollins solutions are reported here.