Kidney transplantation in patients on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis.

In the 45 months from April 1980 to December 1983, 137 patients received first cadaver kidney grafts. Thirty-two of the patients were on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD group) and 105 were on haemodialysis (HD group). The two groups of patients were similar in respect to pre-transplant blood transfusions, mean age, HLA-A, B, DR matching and immunosuppressive therapy. In 14 CAPD patients at least one episode of peritonitis was documented before transplantation. The actuarial graft and patient survival was 57 per cent and 84.4 per cent, respectively for the CAPD group and 55.8 per cent and 85.3 per cent in the HD group. No patient in either group had evidence of peritonitis after the transplantation. These similar results indicate that kidney transplantation in CAPD patients carries no greater risk than in patients on haemodialysis.