Clinical significance of the Kidney Donor Profile Index in deceased donors for prediction of post-transplant clinical outcomes: A multicenter cohort study

Background We investigated whether the Kidney Donor Profile Index (KDPI) system is useful in predicting clinical outcomes in deceased donor kidney transplantation (DDKT). Methods Four hundred sixty-nine kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) receiving kidneys from 359 deceased donors were included in this study, which involved three transplant centers. KTRs were divided into high and low KDPI KTR groups based on the median KDPI score of 67%. We compared clinical outcomes between the high KDPI and low KDPI groups. Results There were no significant differences in the incidence of delayed graft function and acute rejection between high and low KDPI KTR groups. In comparison with histologic findings in allograft tissues obtained within three months from KT, the proportion of glomerulosclerosis was significantly higher in the high KDPI KTR group than in the low KDPI KTR group. With Kaplan-Meier analysis, the graft survival rate was significantly lower in the high KDPI KTR group than in the low KDPI KTR group (Log rank, P = 0.017), and multivariate analysis also demonstrated that a high KDPI score was a significant risk factor for death censored allograft failure (HR 2.62, 95% CI, 1.29 +/- 5.33, P = 0.008). Conclusion The KDPI scoring system is useful in predicting allograft outcomes in a Korean DDKT cohort.