Outcome of a Solitary Kidney Transplant Into Adult Recipients From Pediatric Donors After Controlled Circulatory Death

Abstract

Objectives: We sought to evaluate the outcomes of a single kidney transplant from pediatric donors into adult recipients after controlled circulatory death.

Materials and Methods: A retrospective, single-center review of all adult recipients who received a single pediatric kidney from controlled-cardiac deceased-donors (aged, < 9 years old) between January 2006 and March 2008 was performed.

Results: Eleven adult recipients (aged, 16-41 years) used single renal grafts from the controlled-cardiac deceased-donors (median donor age, 74 months; range, 49-106 months; median donor weight, 20.95 kg; range, 16.6-37.8 kg). The median recipient age was 27 years (range, 16-41 years; median recipient weight, 47 kg; range 39.5-53.6 kg). The patient’s serum creatinine level gradually decreased, and the estimated glomerular filtration rate increased stably more than 2 times during follow-up. The graft length increased significantly the first week after transplant compared with that recorded immediately after reperfusion (P < .001) and grew slightly thereafter. Acute rejection occurred in 1 patient. Nine patients had high renal artery blood flow velocity index at 1 to 2 cm. Beside the anastomosis (167-321 cm/s), only 1 patient developed hypertension and slightly increased serum creatinine at 14 weeks after transplant. The 1-year patient/graft survival was 100%.

Conclusions: Use of single kidneys from pediatric donors after controlled cardiac death could expand the donor pool without compromising recipient outcomes.