Changes in hemoglobin levels after renal transplantation

Posttransplantation Anemia at 12 Months in Kidney Recipients Treated with Mycophenolate Mofetil

“…The presence or absence of anemia at 1, 3, 6, and 12 mo after transplantation was documented. Chronic PTA was defined as the presence of anemia at the 12th posttransplantation month for the following reasons: (1) Anemia occurs more often than not during the early postoperative period; (2) drug-and other transplant-related complications are most common in the first few postoperative months, when rectification of the complications frequently results in resolution of the anemia; and (3) anemia typically is corrected by months 2 to 8 after kidney transplantation (26,27). During the study period, a workup for anemia was not performed routinely, and neither iron supplementation nor recombinant human erythropoietin typically was implemented as therapy.…”

Report Card on Living Kidney Donation

“…In a cross-sectional study assessing the prevalence of late PTA, Saito et al (24) reported a 23.3% prevalence of anemia (defined as Hgb: males, Ͻ 12.8 g/dL; females, Ͻ 11.5 g/dL). In the only longitudinal study (0-24 months post transplantation), in which mean hemoglobin levels were quantified relative to specific immunosuppressive regimens, Kahng et al reported that anemia was corrected in most patients by 8 months post transplant and that early iron therapy, particularly in females, reduced the incidence of anemia (25). There were no differences between the mean hemoglobin levels in patients receiving dual immunosuppression with cyclosporine (CsA) π prednisone or triple immunosuppression with CsA π azathioprine (AZA) π prednisone.…”

… Life Lies Waiting

“…Prior to the availability of recombinant erythropoietin, virtually all kidney transplant recipients exhibited some degree of anemia in the early post‐transplant period, primarily as the consequence of operative blood loss and postoperative phlebotomies superimposed on a pre‐existing state of hypoerthyropoiesis characteristic of renal failure. Restoration of endogenous erythropoietin secretion by the renal allograft, now known to occur within hours to days after transplantation (1), generally led to correction of anemia within a period of 3–8 months (2), at least in patients with well‐functioning grafts. Interestingly, widespread use of recombinant erythropoietin in patients awaiting kidney transplantation has not entirely eliminated the problem of early post‐transplant anemia (less than 6 months after transplantation).…”

“…Cross‐sectional studies suggest a prevalence of late post‐transplant anemia ranging between 14% and 23.3% in adults (5,6), with much higher rates in children (4). A recent longitudinal analysis performed at two centers showed that 30% of adult renal transplant recipients were anemic at some time during a follow‐up period of 5 years and that the prevalence of anemia increased over time (2). In all of these studies, analyses of factors contributing to late post‐transplant anemia indicated, not surprisingly, that impaired renal allograft function is the variable most strongly associated with late post‐transplant anemia.…”