Association Between the Fertile Period and Live Birth Post–Kidney Transplantation: A Retrospective Single-Center Cohort Study

Abstract

BackgroundDespite restoration of fertility after kidney transplantation, the benefit is limited in female kidney recipients. Our objective is to determine the reasons for this discrepancy. MethodsWe evaluated 315 women who underwent kidney transplantation from 1983 to 2015 (a median of age at transplantation [10th–90th percentile] of 32 years [7–55 years]); 230 recipients between the ages of 15 to 49 years old as of March 2016 were observed. ResultsWe experienced 10 abortions and 21 live births from our 23 recipients and 2 abortions and 7 live births in 7 recipients from other transplant center. The live birth rate was 8.9 per 1000 female transplant recipients of childbearing age. Seven recipients received either treatments of artificial insemination or in vitro fertilization. Average age at pregnancy was 33.2 ± 3.2 years old, and the fertile period post-transplantation was longer in recipients with live births than those without live births (14.1 ± 7.1 vs 9.9 ± 7.3 years, P < .05). In 42.9% of recipients with live birth, pregnancy-induced hypertension was observed in the last trimester. The gestational age and the average birth weight were 32.8 ± 5.0 months and 2184 ± 632 g, respectively. During follow-up of 14.5 years, there was one case of graft loss, which is a rate of 2.5 per 1000 female recipients. ConclusionAlthough pregnancy complications are often observed in kidney recipients, graft survival is less influenced by pregnancy. Importantly, kidney disease at childbearing age disrupts pregnancy even after kidney transplantation.