Predictive value of the Charlson comorbidity index in kidney transplantation

Nonimmunologic factors have been recently implicated in worse outcomes after kidney transplantation, producing a need to predict the operative risk among kidney recipients. We assessed the predictive value of the Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) among kidney transplant recipients.

A retrospective study of 223 first deceased-donor kidney transplantations performed from 2000 to 2007 evaluated the role of comorbidities.

About 50% of recipients displayed >1 comorbid condition before transplantation; the most frequently reported was diabetes mellitus. Increasing CCI scores significantly affected graft and patient survivals. Crude analysis showed a significant association between CCI >1 and risk of death (hazard ratio [HR], 3.87; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.06-14.06; P = .04). After adjustment for several covariates, high CCI values remained significantly predictive of posttransplantation outcomes with a HR for death of (12.53; 95% CI, 1.9-82.68; P = .009).

Our predictive model showed a strong association of CCI and patient survival even after adjustment for several clinical covariates. CCI may be used to evaluate patients referred for kidney transplantation who display a significant burden of comorbid conditions that increase the risk of premature death or graft loss.