Survival of Patients Undergoing Chronic Hemodialysis and Renal Transplantation

Abstract

Over an eight-year period 172 patients received an allograft from a living, related donor, 112 received cadaveric transplants, and 125 were placed on home dialysis. In a period of three years, 287 patients passed through our center dialysis program. Analysis of survival curves shows that patient survival was significantly better in recipients of transplants from living, related donors and in dialysis patients than in those receiving a cadaver graft. One-year patient survival rates for recipients of parental, sibling and cadaver allografts were 84.2, 89.5 and 68.7 per cent respectively. Survival rates at one and two years for home-dialysis patients were 88.5 and 77.8 per cent, and similar values for center patients were 92.9 and 86.1 per cent. These probabilities should be considered in the choice of which form of therapy to employ in a given patient, and illustrate the need for continued investigation into the prevention of allograft rejection and cadaver-recipient selection, (N Engl J Med 288:863–867, 1973)