Salmela K T, Kyllönen L E J
Kidney Transplant Unit, Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.
Transplant Proc. 2004 Mar;36(2 Suppl):94S-98S. doi: 10.1016/j.transproceed.2004.01.036.
We present our experience on cyclosporine (CsA) triple immunosuppression in 2445 cadaveric kidney transplantations performed from 1984 to 2002 in Helsinki. Overall, delayed onset of graft function occurred in 30.2% and acute rejection in 25.6% of the transplantations. The 1-, 5-, and 10-year patient survival was 95.1%, 84.5%, and 69.1%; the graft survival rates were 90.0%, 74.9%, and 56.7%; and the death-censored graft survival, 93.3%, 83.5%, and 72.4%. During the study period, the 5-year patient survival improved from 70.8% to 90.6% and the graft survival from 58.2% to 88.0% with the graft half-life estimate of 1-year survivors improving from 7.6 to 21.8 years. Acute rejection episodes decreased from 33.0% to 19.9% and the calculated creatinine clearance at 1 year improved from 50.3 mL/min to 74.3 mL/min. Mean CsA dose diminished significantly, both at 3 weeks (from 8.2 mg/kg to 4.9 mg/kg) and at 1 year posttransplant (from 3.7 mg/kg to 2.8 mg/kg). In 16.7% of transplantations where azathioprine had to be discontinued early, significantly more rejections occurred (38.0% vs 23.2%) with inferior 1-year graft survival (80.2% vs 94.8%) compared to the transplantations continuing on triple therapy. Among 1-year survivors, the 6-month serum creatinine level was strongly associated with death-censored long-term graft survival. In this material, the CsA dosage at 1 year did not predict long-term graft survival.
