Prevalence, causes, and complications of acute kidney transplant rejection: survey in a single center

Abstract

Backgrounds: Kidney transplantation has become a preferred surgical treatment for several renal disorders. To obtain information on acute transplant rejection and its complications, it is important to determine rejection prevalence and its potential causes. Methods: In this retrospective, 37-year study, 2,250 patients underwent conventional kidney transplantation. Patients who experienced graft loss, who underwent nephrectomy of the transplanted kidney during the first month after transplantation, or who died were enrolled the study. All required data were recorded in a designed questionnaire. Results: Of the 2,557 patients who underwent kidney transplantation, 86 (3.36%) experienced acute graft loss during the first month after transplantation; of these, 43 (50%) were men and 43 (50%) were women. The mean age of the patients who experienced acute graft loss was 40.09 ± 14.09 years. The most common underlying causes of acute graft loss were as follows: acute rejection of transplanted kidney%), renal vein thrombosis (17.5%), heart infarction (13.9%), and idiopathy (6.9%). Of these 86 patients, 33 underwent nephrectomy after rejection; however, 53 responded well to medical treatment. In addition, 33 patients (38.4%) underwent acute nephrectomy during the first month after transplantation, which constituted in 33 patients (1.2%) of the total graft losses. Conclusion: In our study, renal vein thrombosis was the most common underlying cause of graft loss in kidney transplantation patients that can be prevented using anticoagulants or other drugs to help prevent such outcomes., and graft rejection occurred most commonly in the first week after transplantation.