Comparison of Outcomes with HTK and UW Solutions in Renal Transplantation

We appreciate the comments of Drs. Opelz and Döhler regarding our submission to the American Journal of Transplantation (1). The authors correctly point out that our series, which encompassed 634 deceased donor and 950 living donor transplants, was not sufficiently powered to detect a difference in UW versus HTK performance in organs cold-preserved for more than 24 h. Our study did show, to a statistically significant degree, apparent equipoise in patient and graft survival between the whole of the UW and HTK groups. Separate multivariate analyses of outcomes validated the data set by showing contributions of donor and recipient factors consistent with previous reports from the literature (2,3). Finally, our study assessed correlation between storage solution type and delayed graft function, and HTK use was actually seen by Cox multivariable analysis to be associated with decreased risk of delayed graft function.