Treatment of cadaveric renal transplant recipients with total lymphoid irradiation, antithymocyte globulin, and low-dose prednisone.

The ability of preoperative total lymphoid irradiation (TLI) to reduce the need for chronic immunosuppression after cadaveric renal transplantation was examined in 25 recipients who were given a brief course of antithymocyte globulin (ATG) postoperatively with daily low-dose prednisone (0.1-0.2 mg/kg) as the sole maintenance immunosuppressive drug. Patients were selected for the study on the basis of their low levels of cytotoxic antibodies. Grafts were not HLA-matched, and the mean interval between completion of TLI and transplantation was 9 days. During an observation period of up to 25 months, 2 grafts were lost because of rejection. There were two deaths due to disseminated viral infections and two to late cardiovascular complications. At the last observation point, the mean serum creatinine of the 19 patients with functioning grafts was 1.5 mg/dl, and the mean dose of prednisone was 10.2 mg/day. 10 of these patients did not have a rejection episode. Comparison of patients given TLI with a group given cyclosporin at the same institution showed similar graft survival but better graft function in the TLI group.