Trends in Kidney Transplantation Outcome: The Andalusian Kidney Transplant Registry, 1984-2007

Herein we have presented the first report from the Andalusian Kidney Transplant Registry, a Public Health Service Regional Registry in Andalusia, Spain (general population, 8 million). The current analysis was limited to 5599 kidney-alone transplants from deceased donors, grouped into 4 time periods: 1984-1989 (n = 846); 1990-1995 (n = 1172); 1996-2001 (n = 1801); and 2002-2007 (n = 2060). The age of the transplant patients rose over time to 21.7% of recipients of ages >= 60 years in 2002-2007. In the later years we observed an increased incidence of vascular and diabetic causes of end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Patients who underwent retransplantation increased from 2.7% in 1984-1989 to 8.1% in 2002-2007. Time on previous renal replacement therapy (RRT) increased from 33.1 +/- 29 to 48 +/- 53 months. Patient survivals at 1, 5, 10, and 20 years were 96%, 91%, 83%, and 63%, respectively. Censoring for death, graft survivals were 90%, 80%, 67%, and 45%, respectively. Compared with the 1984-1989 period, patient survival improved by about 10% (P < .001) since 1990, remaining stable to 2007. Censored 5-year graft survivals progressively improved from 72% to 77%, 82%, and 85% (P < .001). Upon multivariate analysis, gender, age >39 years, diabetes, and RRT duration were independent predictors of patient survival. Age <18 years, retransplantation, and positive hepatitis C virus serology were independent predictors of lower graft survival. Considering 1984-1989 as the reference time period, both patient and graft mortality risks continuously decreased over the following 3 periods (relative risk [RR] = 0.5-0.4-0.3 for patient mortality; RR = 0.8-0.6-0.5 for graft mortality). In summary, despite an increased number of adverse risk factors, both patient and graft survivals have improved from 1984 to date.