Long-term Follow-up of ABO-Incompatible Kidney Transplantation in Freiburg, Germany: A Single-Center Outcome Report

ABO-incompatible kidney transplantation (ABOi-KT) is an established way to enlarge the donor pool around the world. Comparability of long-term success and complications to ABO-compatible kidney transplantation (ABOc-KT) are still under debate.

We evaluated all patients with a living donor kidney transplantation performed between April 1, 2004, and March 31, 2019.

A total of 137 ABOi-KT and 346 ABOc-KT were analyzed. We excluded 4 ABOi-KT recipients and 178 ABOc-KT recipients with cyclosporine A-based immunosuppression or without basiliximab induction. Three patients of the ABOi-KT cohort and 6 patients of the ABOc-KT cohort were lost to follow-up and therefore excluded. The patient characteristics were comparable except for the higher age of transplant recipients in the ABOc-KT cohort and longer follow-up of the ABOi-KT cohort. The mean estimated 15-year recipient survival was 89% in the ABOi-KT cohort and 91% in the ABOc-KT cohort (P = .39). Mean estimated graft survival was 71% in the ABOi-KT cohort and 87% in the ABOc-KT cohort (P = .68). The estimated glomerular filtration rate (Modification of Diet in Renal Disease) measured in the last follow-up was 51 mL/min/1.73 m² in the ABOi-KT cohort and 50 mL/min/1.73 m² in the ABOc-KT cohort (P = .36). The incidence for antibody-mediated rejection, T cell-mediated rejections, and infectious complications requiring hospitalization was not different between the cohorts. In the ABOi-KT cohort, we found significantly more lymphoceles and consequent surgical revision procedures.

At our center, ABOi-KT has as good long-term results as ABOc-KT in terms of patient survival, graft survival, and complications, with the exception of increased lymphocele formation.