Predictors for transplant renal artery stenosis in kidney transplant recipients: a systematic-review and...

Kidney transplant recipients after kidney transplantation may develop transplant renal artery stenosis (TRAS). Multiple studies have sought to identify risk factors, yet the findings remain inconsistent.

PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science Core Collection were comprehensively searched to retrieve studies. The 1st screening phase required studies to be in English and evaluate patients with TRAS. The 2nd screening phase needed studies to provide extractable data. Quality of each included study was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. The protocol was registered through PROSPERO (CRD42023455295).

A total of 25 cohort and 6 case-control studies were included, with the majority being of moderate quality. The predictors for TRAS identified in univariate analysis were deceased donor (odds ratio (OR), 1.74; p = 0.04), delayed graft function (OR 2.46; p = 0.0004), acute rejection (OR 2.03; p = 0.001), prolonged cold ischemia time (p = 0.01), multiple renal arteries (OR 1.73; p = 0.03), right kidney implantation (OR 1.89; p = 0.005), ischemic heart disease (OR 1.64; p = 0.0004), diabetes mellitus (OR 1.58; p = 0.001), hypertension (OR 1.28; p = 0.0009), immunosuppression with mycophenolate mofetil (OR 1.22; p = 0.02), cytomegalovirus status (OR 1.94; p 0.0001) and older recipient age (p = 0.01).

This study provides the largest and most reliable review on predictors for TRAS following kidney transplantation. Despite the chance of some factors being dependent of one another, our findings would still be helpful for clinicians in risk-stratification for TRAS and long-term follow-up of kidney transplant recipients.