BLOOD-PRESSURE DEVELOPMENT IN KIDNEY-TRANSPLANTED PATIENTS UNDER CYCLOSPORINE THERAPY

A retrospective follow-up study was performed to evaluate blood pressure changes in 83 kidney transplant patients who were immunosuppressed with cyclosporine. The following data were registered from these 83 patients, who were among all those receiving transplants from 1985 to 1990 at the Medical University in Lubeck, Germany: age; gender; primary original disease; blood pressure; antihypertensive medication pre- and posttransplantation; and, cyclosporine and prednisolone dosages after kidney transplantation. Additionally, the age and gender of the donors was noted. There were three recipients of living, related transplantations among the population under investigation. The evaluation of pretransplantation primary original diseases yielded the following distribution: 33 patients had glomerulonephritis; 18 had pyelonephritis; and, 12 suffered from polycystic kidney disease. During the course of this study, the following posttransplantation developments were observed: 3 bilateral nephrectomies; 9 unilateral nephrectomies; 4 vascular rejections; 17 cellular rejections; and, one renal arterial stenosis. After transplantation, 75 of 83 recipients (90%) had hypertension requiring therapeutic intervention. However, kidney transplantation generally permits reintegration of the patient into the routine of normal, daily life.