Influence of Cold Ischemia Time in Kidney Transplants From Small Pediatric Donors

Clinicians may be reluctant to transplant small pediatric kidneys that have prolonged cold ischemia time (CIT) for fear of an additional deleterious effect because pediatric grafts are thought to be more sensitive to ischemia. We aimed to assess the risks associated with transplantation of small pediatric kidneys with prolonged CIT.

We performed a retrospective cohort study examining US registry data between 1998 and 2013 of adult first-time kidney-only recipients of small pediatric kidneys from donors weighing 10 to 20 kg, stratified by CIT levels of 0 to 18 (n = 1413), 19 to 30 (n = 1116), and longer than 30 (n = 338) hours.

All-cause graft survival by CIT groups at 1-year was 92%, 88%, and 89%, respectively. 1-year risk-adjusted graft survival hazard ratios were significantly higher with CIT of 19 to 30 hours (adjusted hazard ratios, 1.37; 95% confidence interval, 1.04-1.81) and somewhat higher with CIT greater than 30 hours (adjusted hazard ratios, 1.24; 95% confidence interval, 0.82-1.88) relative to recipients with CIT 0 to 18 hours. There was little variation in the effect of CIT on graft survival when restricted to single kidney transplants only and no significant interaction of CIT category and single kidney transplantation (P = 0.93).

Although prolonged CIT is associated with lower early graft survival in small pediatric donor kidney transplants, absolute decreases in 1-year graft survival rates were 3% to 4%.