Renal transplantation in amyloidosis.

During a three-year period renal transplantation was performed in 12 patients with amyloidosis. This disease was primary (or the cause unknown) in two cases and secondary in ten. In the latter cases the primary disease was rheumatoid arthritis in six, ankylosing spondylitis in one, osteomyelitis in two and tuberculosis in one. Five of the 12 patients were alive one year after transplantation. Two years after transplantation four out of seven were alive. Graft survival was the same. At the end of the three-year period five patients were alive. In two of these cases renal biopsy showed amyloid deposits in the transplant two and three years, respectively, after the transplantation.