Effect of primary renal disease and risk factors on kidney graft survival

The important role of immunological factors, HLA typing and pretransplant blood transfusion on improved kidney graft survival is well established. Additionally, graft survival depends on risk factors such as diabetes and age of the recipient. The effect of other clinical risk factors on graft survival was evaluated in 187 patients who received kidney transplants at our centre between 1970 and 1981. Graft survival according to the life table method and statistical analysis according to the logrank test revealed 4 main risk factors. Graft survival is significantly lower in type I diabetics and analgesic nephropathy, whereas it is better in hereditary and other renal diseases. Additional risk factors are coronary heart disease and repeated grafting. Time of dialysis before transplantation and age of the recipient showed no detrimental effect on graft survival.