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Updated: Aug 31, 2025
Quantifying Cognitive Decrements Caused by Cranial Radiotherapy
Published on: October 18, 2011
Pre-transplant cognitive screening is a poor predictor of post-transplant cognitive status
Aditi Gupta1,2,3, Robert N Montgomery4, Kate Young4
1Center for Transplantation, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, USA.
Introduction:
Transplant centers hesitate to transplant patients with cognitive impairment. It is unclear if pre-kidney transplant (KT) cognitive screening can predict post-KT cognitive function.
Methods:
We evaluated pre- to post-KT cognitive function with the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) in a cohort of 108 patients. We used an adjusted logistic regression model to assess pre- to post-KT changes in cognitive status (continuous variable) and a linear mixed model to assess changes in MoCA scores (categorical variable) pre- to post- KT.
Results:
The average pre- and post-KT MoCA scores were 25.3 ± 3.0 and 26.4 ± 2.8, respectively. Final pre-KT score did not predict post-KT cognitive status (OR = 1.08; 95% CI: .92-1.26; P = .35). 32% of the patients with a final pre-KT score ≥26 had at least one post-KT score < 26. Conversely, 61% of the patients with a final pre-KT score < 26 had at least one post KT score ≥26. In the linear mixed model analysis, the final pre-KT score was associated with a small, clinically insignificant (β = .34; 95% CI: .19-.49; P < .001) effect on the post-KT score.
Conclusion:
A low pre-KT MoCA score is not a strong independent predictor of post-KT cognitive function and should not preclude patients from receiving a KT.
