Results of kidney transplantation from controlled donors after cardio-circulatory death: a single center experience

The aim of this study was to determine results of kidney transplantation (KT) from controlled donation after cardio-circulatory death (DCD). Primary end-points were graft and patient survival, and post-transplant complications. The influence of delayed graft function (DGF) on graft survival and DGF risk factors were analyzed as secondary end-points. This is a retrospective mono-center review of a consecutive series of 59 DCD-KT performed between 2005 and 2010. Overall graft survival was 96.6%, 94.6%, and 90.7% at 3 months, 1 and 3 years, respectively. Main cause of graft loss was patients death with a functioning graft. No primary nonfunction grafts. Renal graft function was suboptimal at hospital discharge, but nearly normalized at 3 months. DGF was observed in 45.6% of all DCD-KT. DGF significantly increased postoperative length of hospitalization, but had no deleterious impact on graft function or survival. Donor body mass index =30 was the only donor factor that was found to significantly increase the risk of DGF (P < 0.05). Despite a higher rate of DGF, controlled DCD-KT offers a valuable contribution to the pool of deceased donor kidney grafts, with comparable mid-term results to those procured after brain death.