Study of the effect of early and late acute rejection episodes on renal graft survival

Abstract

Background It has been demonstrated that acute rejection (AR) episodes are major risk factors of renal allograft loss. Still the impact of early acute rejection (EAR) on long-term graft survival is debated. The aim of this study was to study the impact of early acute rejection (EAR) and late acute rejection (LAR) on renal allograft survival. Patients and methods In this retrospective study we investigated the timing and frequency of AR episodes in 120 kidney transplant recipients for a 3-years period. Patients were divided into three groups; Group I: No acute rejection (No-AR), Group II: Early acute rejection (EAR), and Group III: Late acute rejection (LAR). The graft survivals in the three groups and the associated risk factors were analyzed. Results Of the 120 recipients one patient died (0.08%) and 14 grafts were lost (11.6%). The graft survival durations were 35.2, 23.6 and 27.2 months and the 3-years survival rates were 93%, 63.3% and 66.7% in the three groups respectively. The graft survival durations and rates were significantly higher in group I compared to groups II and III with no significant differences between the last two groups. Conclusion Both EAR and LAR have deleterious effects on graft survival following kidney transplantation.