Are there any important predicting factors of renal function during hypothermic pulsatile perfusion for transplantation?

Fifty perfused cadaver kidneys transplanted in this institution were statistically analyzed with an IBM computer to determine the most important prognostic factors in long-term actual function, namely, the kidney donor warm ischemia, length of preservation, the perfusion characteristics (flow, pressure, perfusate gases, and occasionally electrolytes and osmolarity), and the recipient's response and clinical history (age, sex, race, original renal disease, HLA-antigen matching, number of transplants, number of rejection episodes, kidney function, final outcome, etc.). Although we found no significant (P greater than 0.05) correlation between graft survival and the parameters studied, high perfusate flow appeared to have an important beneficial effect on long-term graft function. Other prognostic indicators of posttransplantation renal function were not clearly seen in our study. It is important to mention that although no significant (P greater than 0.05) differences were seen, patients without diabetes mellitus, first cadaver kidney transplants, and more than two HLA-antigen matches did better than the group without these characteristics.