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Updated: Nov 16, 2025
Murine Kidney Transplant Technique
Published on: October 20, 2015
Increased risk of ischaemic heart disease after kidney donation
Anders J Haugen1,2, Stein Hallan3, Nina E Langberg1,2
1Department of Transplant Medicine, Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet, Oslo, Norway.
Insights
Living kidney donors face an increased risk of developing ischaemic heart disease compared to healthy controls. This finding is crucial for donor selection and long-term follow-up care.
Area of Science:
- Nephrology
- Cardiology
- Public Health
Background:
- Previous reports indicate a potential increased risk of hypertension and cardiovascular mortality post-kidney donation.
- This study examines specific long-term health outcomes in live kidney donors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the incidence of ischaemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer in live kidney donors compared to eligible healthy controls.
- To inform the selection and follow-up protocols for living kidney donors.
Main Methods:
- A cohort study comparing 1029 kidney donors with 16,084 healthy controls.
- Diagnoses were physician-registered for donors and self-reported for controls.
- Adjusted stratified logistic regression analyzed associations with disease outcomes, controlling for baseline health factors and follow-up time.
Main Results:
- The mean follow-up was 11.3 years for donors and 16.4 years for controls.
- Donors showed a significantly higher incidence of ischaemic heart disease (3.5% vs 1.7%), with an adjusted odds ratio of 1.64 (P=0.01).
- No significant differences were observed in the risks of cerebrovascular disease, diabetes, or cancer between groups.
Conclusions:
- Live kidney donation is associated with an increased long-term risk of ischaemic heart disease.
- These findings highlight the importance of careful donor selection and ongoing monitoring for cardiovascular health.
Background:
Previous reports suggest increased risk of hypertension and cardiovascular mortality after kidney donation. In this study we investigate the occurrence of ischaemic heart disease and cerebrovascular disease, diabetes and cancer in live kidney donors compared with healthy controls eligible for donation.
Methods:
Different diagnoses were assessed in 1029 kidney donors and 16 084 controls. The diagnoses at follow-up were self-reported for the controls and registered by a physician for the donors. Stratified logistic regression was used to estimate associations with various disease outcomes, adjusted for gender, age at follow-up, smoking at baseline, body mass index at baseline, systolic blood pressure at baseline and time since the donation.
Results:
The mean observation time was 11.3 years [standard deviation (SD) 8.1] for donors versus 16.4 years (SD 5.7) for controls. The age at follow-up was 56.1 years (SD 12.4) in donors versus 53.5 years (SD 11.1) in controls and 44% of donors were males versus 39.3% in the controls. At follow-up, 35 (3.5%) of the donors had been diagnosed with ischaemic heart disease versus 267 (1.7%) of the controls. The adjusted odds ratio for ischaemic heart disease was 1.64 (confidence interval 1.10-2.43; P = 0.01) in donors compared with controls. There were no significant differences for the risks of cerebrovascular disease, diabetes or cancer.
Conclusions:
During long-term follow-up of kidney donors, we found an increased risk of ischaemic heart disease compared with healthy controls. This information may be important in the follow-up and selection process of living kidney donors.
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