The Long-term Outcome of Pediatric Kidney Transplantation in Iran: Results of a 25-year Single-Center Cohort Study

BACKGROUND Kidney transplantation is the optimal treatment for end-stage renal disease in children. However, long-term graft survival has not significantly improved among pediatric patients. OBJECTIVE To investigate the determinants of long-term graft survival among Iranian pediatric recipients of kidney transplantation. METHODS In a single-center cohort study, we studied 314 pediatric kidney transplantations performed from 1989 to 2013 at Dr. Shariati Hospital, Tehran, Iran. Different variables were collected for each patient and graft survival rates were calculated. RESULTS After a mean±SD follow-up period of 15.8±4.0 years, the mean±SD graft survival rate was 14.5±0.5 years; the 1-, 5-, 10-, and 20-year mean graft survival rates were 90%, 81%, 62%, and 62%, respectively. The corresponding patient survival rates were 100%, 99.4%, 97.8%, and 96.5%, respectively. Pre-emptive transplantation (p=0.006), and living graft donation (p=0.002) led to higher graft survival, while acute rejection (p=0.002), and primary disease of primary hyperoxaluria (p=0.001) led to lower graft survival. Chronic rejection was the most frequent cause of graft loss. CONCLUSION Short-term graft survival still outpaces the long-term outcome. Modifying the mentioned determinants, with more intense immunosuppression for greater prevention of acute and chronic rejection, and increased rate of pre-emptive transplantation and living donor transplantation, long-term graft survival may significantly improve in future.