Kidney Transplantation, Cardiovascular Risk, and Long-Term Dialysis in Japan

The waiting time for deceased-donor kidney-only transplantations in Japan is long. Herein, we assessed the effect of length of dialysis on the outcomes of these patients.

We divided patients into 2 groups based on length of dialysis (Group A, <15 years, and Group B, ≥15 years), and compared the background and outcomes after kidney transplantation.

Group A included 210 patients and Group B included 35 patients. In Group B, 20% of transplants were from living donors. Patient age (P = .017) and the hepatitis C infection rate (P = .018) were significantly higher in Group B, whereas hypertension (P = .011), diabetes (P = .041), and ABO-incompatibility rates (P = .015) were significantly higher in Group A. The 5- and 10-year survival rates were 97.0% and 95.4%, respectively, in Group A and 97.1% and 97.1%, respectively, in Group B. The 5- and 10-year graft survival rates were 95.4% and 84.8%, respectively, in Group A and 97.1% and 73.1%, respectively, in Group B. There were no significant differences between the groups in patient survival (P = .74) and graft survival (P = .72). The 5- and 10-year cardiovascular event-free survival rates were 95.9% and 92.4%, respectively, in Group A and 88.6% and 76.8%, respectively, in Group B. Cardiovascular event-free survival was significantly higher in Group A (P = .038). Cox stepwise multivariate analysis indicated that length of dialysis was a significant predictor of cardiovascular events (hazard risk, 1.007; range, 1.001-1.012; P = .012).

The prognosis after kidney transplantation is promising even after a long length of dialysis, although evaluation of the cardiovascular risk is needed in these cases.