Predictors of kidney complications and analysis of hypertension in children with allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Background This study aimed to determine incidence of kidney complications in pediatric allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) patients. Methods Pediatric allogeneic HSCT patients were included. Post-transplantation urinary system complications were collected from medical records and glomerular filtration rates at last visit compared with clinical parameters. Additionally, 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring was performed. Results The study included 165 pediatric patients. Acute kidney injury (AKI) developed in 125 (75.8%) patients of whom 54 (43.2%) had stage 1, 36 (28.8%) stage 2, and 35 (28%) stage 3 AKI. Primary malignant disease and viral infection post-HSCT were associated with increased risk of AKI (OR: 4; 95%CI: 1.2-13, p = 0.022 and OR: 2.9; 95%CI: 1.2-6.8, p = 0.014, respectively). Mean duration of post-HSCT follow-up was 4.4 +/- 2.5 years, during which time 8 patients had chronic kidney disease (CKD) (stage 1, 4 patients; stage 2, 3 patients; stage 3, 1 patient). CKD incidence was higher in patients in whom stem cell product was bone marrow + cord blood and mobilized peripheral blood, compared to bone marrow alone (40-37.5% versus 5.1%, p = 0.002). Based on 24-h ABPM, 14.7% and 7.4% of patients with normal office blood pressure had pre-hypertension and hypertension, respectively. In patients with albuminuria/severe albuminuria, daytime and nighttime systolic SDS scores were higher than those without albuminuria/severe albuminuria (p = 0.010 and p = 0.004, respectively). Conclusions Incidence of AKI is higher in pediatric HSCT patients with primary malignant disease and those with documented viral infection. Our study highlights the beneficial role of 24-h ABPM as a routine part of standard care of pediatric HSCT recipients.