Outcomes for kidney transplants at the National University Health System: comparison with overseas transplants.

The 5-year and 10-year graft survivals for 186 deceased donor (DD) transplants performed at National University Health System (NUHS) were 79.9% and 58.4% respectively. 5-year and 10-year patient survivals for DD transplants performed at NUHS were 94.2% and 83.4%. The 5-year and 10-year graft survivals for 128 living donor (LD) transplants performed at NUHS were 90.2% and 72% respectively. 5-year and 10-year patient survivals for DD transplants performed at NUHS were 98.6% and 95.1%. The projected graft half lives were 14.6 and 20.6 years for DD and LD transplants respectively. These results compare favorably with the 10-year survival rates of 40% and 58% for DD and LD grafts reported by the United States Renal Data System (USRDS) in 2010. The younger age and the lower prevalence of diabetes and HLAmismatch in the DD and LD transplant study populations, in comparison to the USRDS population and perhaps better access and compliance to maintenance immunosuppression, could have contributed to these excellent outcomes. The 5-year and 10-year graft survivals for 162 transplants receiving what were likely deceased donor kidneys from China were 89.2% and 69.2% respectively. Although these survivals were apparently better than that for DD performed at NUHS, the advantage for China Tx disappeared when DD with primary non function or vascular thrombosis were excluded from analysis. The 5-year and 10-year patient survivals for 30 transplants receiving live non-related transplants from India were 82.3% and 60.1%. Both groups were considered to have received commercial transplants based on various aspects of history from the patients. Among those receiving China_Tx or India Tx, there were a disproportionate number of males and Chinese; and a significant proportion underwent pre-emptive transplant or transplant after only a short period of dialysis. Prevalence of post-transplant hepatitis B was significantly higher among China_Tx than their DD counterparts (7.7% vs. 1.2%, P = 0.005); likewise, post transplant hepatitis C was significantly higher for India_Tx than their LD counterparts (23.1% vs. 3.4%, P = 0.003). These results suggest that commercialization in transplant, results in inequities to access to transplantation and is associated with compromise in screening for infections among potential donors or in observing safety precautions during dialysis.