Risk factors in the development of delayed graft function in deceased donor kidney transplant recipients and their impact on patient and graft survival

Background. Delayed graft function (DGF) is an early complication of kidney transplant (KT) and it is related to a higher incidence of acute rejection (AR) and lower graft survival. The incidence of DGF ranges from 2 to 29% in different series. Several risk factors for DGF have been described, including inotropic use in the deceased donor, long cold ischemia time, cardiovascular brain death, age > 55 years, hypovolemia, previous transplant, preformed antibodies and OKT3 use. Material and methods. This study is a retrospective cohort of the kidney transplant recipients (KTR) of deceased donors from 1990 to 2009, at the INCMNSZ. We analyzed the incidence of DGF, risk factors associated to its development, and patient and graft outcome. To compare the groups, we used e test or Student's t test for categorical and numeric variables, respectively. Patient and graft survival were calculated using Kaplan-Meier method; a p value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results. Data from 105 KTR were analyzed. DGF occurred in 21%, AR in 27%, graft loss in 15.2%. The only risk factor associated to DGF was brain death due to vascular disease (p = 0.028). Conclusions. Brain death due to vascular disease was the only risk factor associated to DGF. A non-significant higher incidence of AR was observed in patients with DGF. Survival was significantly lower in patients who developed DGF compared to those without DGF, and it was not related to renal function.