LONG-TERM RENAL FUNCTION IN KIDNEY DONORS

Abstract

Patients (20) who underwent uninephrectomy for kidney donation between 1964-1968 participated in a long-term study of the function of the solitary kidney. Mean follow-up after uninephrectomy was 15.8 .+-. 3 yr. One patient with a strong family history of essential hypertension developed de novo mild hypertension. The current creatinine clearance of the donors was 80 .+-. 4 ml/min. The 1 wk, 3-6 mo. and 14-18 yr postuninephrectomy percentages of predonation creatinine clearance were 72 .+-. 3, 76 .+-. 3 and 78 .+-. 2%, respectively. The 24-h urine protein excretion in kidney donors was significantly higher than in controls (141 .+-. 20 mg vs. 74 .+-. 3 mg, respectively, P < 0.0005). Except for 1 donor who may have developed glomerulonephritis, the donors had normal urinary albumin excretion. The cause of the slightly elevated nonalbumin proteinuria is not known. This long-term study of kidney donors shows no adverse effects on the blood pressure and renal function after many years of compensatory hyperfiltration.