Does vesicoureteric reflux result in renal allograft failure?

Vesicoureteric reflux (VUR) into transplanted kidneys has been cited as an often disregarded but frequent complication of transplantation which is associated with a glomerular lesion that resembles membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis, marked proteinuria, and graft failure. To determine the prevalence of this complication in our transplant population, all of our 23 patients with marked proteinuria and 27 controls without proteinuria had voiding cystourethrograms performed approximately two years after transplantation. In our population, VUR was infrequent (8%). Moreover, in the three of the four cases detected renal function has not deteriorated and three of the four do not have marked proteinuria. We cannot confirm the suggestion that VUR is a frequent cause of late renal allograft failure.