Kidney Transplant Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Kidney Transplant, including details on risks, prognosis, procedure, surgery, organ donation.

A prospective 3-yr evaluation of tacrolimus-based immunosuppressive therapy in immunological high risk renal allograft recipients.

Zaltzman JS, Boucher A, Busque S, Halloran PF, Landsberg DN, McAlister VC, Russell D, Shoker A, Shapiro J, Tchervenkov JI, Ferguson R

St Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. jerey.zaltzman@utoronto.ca

BACKGROUND: There have been no published data on use of the the newer immunosuppressants tacrolimus and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) in high immunological risk renal transplantation. We therefore undertook a prospective study to systematically assess outcomes using these agents as part of an aggressive immunosuppressive regimen. METHODS: Fifty-nine high-risk renal allograft recipients were enrolled at 10 Canadian sites and given a regimen of: a biological induction agent, tacrolimus, MMF, and corticosteroids. Patients included 10 (17%) who had lost a previous graft to rejection <1 yr, 31 (53%) with a current panel reactive antibody (PRA) >30%, 47 (80%) with a historic PRA >50%, four (7%) who had a positive historical T-cell crossmatch with the current donor, and six (10%) with a current positive B-cell crossmatch. The mean peak PRA was 76 +/- 33%. RESULTS: The estimated 3-yr Kaplan-Meier patient and graft survival estimates were 89% and 75%, respectively. There were nine graft losses other than deaths with a functioning graft, of which six were preceded by delayed graft function (p = 0.01, chi2). Sixteen (27%) recipients experienced at least one episode of biopsy-confirmed acute rejection. Infections included cytomegalovirus in 16 patients, eight of whom had tissue-invasive disease. Only one malignancy occurred. CONCLUSIONS: The immunosuppressive strategy investigated is effective and displays a satisfactory safety profile in high immunological risk renal allograft recipients.

Published 20 January 2005 in Clin Transplant, 19(1): 26-32.
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