Renal Transplantation in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: Outcome and Prognostic Factors in 50 Cases from a Single Centre

BACKGROUND End-stage renal disease (ESRD) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). OBJECTIVES To analyze the outcome and prognostic factors of renal transplantation in patients with ESRD due to SLE from January 1986 to December 2013 in a single center. RESULTS Fifty renal transplantations were performed in 40 SLE patients (32 female (80%), mean age at transplantation 36±10.4 years). The most frequent lupus nephropathy was type IV (72.2%). Graft failure occurred in a total of 15 (30%) transplantations and the causes of graft failure were chronic allograft nephropathy (n=12), acute rejection (n=2), and chronic humoral rejection (1). The death-censored graft survival rates were 93.9% at 1 year, 81.5% at 5 years, and 67.6% at the end of study. The presence of deceased donor allograft (P=0.007) and positive anti-HCV antibodies (P=0.001) negatively influence the survival of the renal transplant. The patient survival rate was 91.4% at the end of the study. Recurrence of lupus nephritis in renal allograft was observed in one patient. CONCLUSION Renal transplantation is a good alternative for renal replacement therapy in patients with SLE. In our cohort, the presence of anti-HCV antibodies and the type of donor source were related to the development of graft failure.