Risk factors for chronic graft dysfunction in 918 renal transplants.

CHRONIC rejection or chronic allograft dysfunction (CD) persists as one of the most prevalent causes of long-term kidney graft loss. As a consequence, the longterm survival and half-life of grafts remains poor, despite optimistic results from a recent publication. Chronic allograft dysfunction is a process of gradual destruction of the kidney graft, dominated by progressive vascular obliteration and other structural changes resulting in fibrosis. The evolution to CD is caused by two types of factors: nonimmunologic and immunologic. The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence, causes, and effects of CD among a series of 918 renal transplants.