Premature cardiovascular disease in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus influences survival after renal transplantation

Abstract

To assess graft and patient survival as well as causes for graft loss and patient death after renal transplantation in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Eighty-seven renal transplantations were performed in 77 patients with SLE from 1972 to 2005. Each recipient with SLE was matched (for date of transplant, age, donor source [living versus deceased], and sex) with 2 renal graft recipients who had non-SLE glomerulonephritis, and the SLE and non-SLE groups were compared with regard to graft survival and patient survival. The mean ± SD age of SLE patients at the time of transplantation was 37.4 ± 12.8 years, and the majority of SLE patients were female (80.5%). SLE patients were well matched to control transplant patients for date of transplant, age, and donor source (living versus deceased donor). The death-censored graft survival rate for SLE patients receiving transplants corresponded closely to that for the control groups; the 1-, 5-, and 10-year graft survival rates were 88%, 81%, and 71%, respectively, for SLE patients, and 91%, 83%, and 74%, respectively, for patients with non-SLE glomerulonephritis (P = 0.31). Patient survival differed significantly; the rates of survival for recipients with SLE were 94%, 83%, and 71% at 1, 5, and 10 years, respectively. The corresponding rates of patient survival in the non-SLE glomerulonephritis cohort were 96%, 92%, and 85% (P = 0.018). Cardiovascular events were the most prominent cause of death in SLE patients (66.7%, versus 39.5% in the control group; P = 0.03). Transplant patients with SLE have a graft survival rate that matches that of recipients with non-SLE glomerulonephritis. SLE patients who receive transplants have a lower survival rate than control patients. The excessive mortality in SLE is attributed to a greater number of cardiovascular deaths.