Short-term outcomes of second kidney transplantation compared with those of first transplantation in Japanese patients: a single-center, retrospective, observational study

• Published in: Clinical and experimental nephrology Vol. 27; no. 2; pp. 188 - 196
• Main Authors: Fukuhara, Hiroki, Nawano, Takaaki, Kanda, Akiko, Tomosugi, Toshihide, Okada, Manabu, Futamura, Kenta, Hiramitsu, Takahisa, Takeda, Asami, Tsuchiya, Norihiko, Goto, Norihiko, Narumi, Shunji, Watarai, Yoshihiko
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Singapore Springer Nature Singapore 01-02-2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: East Asian People; Graft Survival; Humans; Kaplan-Meier Estimate; Kidney transplantation; Kidney Transplantation - adverse effects; Kidney transplants; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Nephrology; Original Article; Patients; Proportional Hazards Models; Retrospective Studies; Survival Analysis; Treatment Outcome; Urology; Death-censored graft survival; Inverse probability of treatment weighting; Overall survival; Second kidney transplantation
• ISSN: 1342-1751; 1437-7799
• DOI: 10.1007/s10157-022-02290-1

Background
Among patients who undergo kidney transplantation, a subsequent second kidney transplantation (TX2) is often necessary. The TX2 outcomes remain controversial, however, and only limited data are available on clinical outcomes of TX2 in Japanese patients. This study aimed to assess graft and patient survival rates of TX2 and compared these rates with those of first kidney transplantation (TX1) in Japanese patients.
Methods
Of the 898 kidney transplantations performed between 2010 and 2019 at our institution, 33 were TX2. We performed survival analysis using weighted Kaplan–Meier analysis and Cox proportional hazards analysis with propensity score matching, specifically inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW).
Results
Death-censored graft survival (DCGS) rates at 1, 3, and 5 years for the TX1 versus TX2 groups were 99.3, 97.9, and 95.0% versus 100, 96.0, and 91.2%, respectively. Overall survival (OS) rates at 1, 3, and 5 years for the TX1 versus TX2 groups were 99.4, 98.9, and 97.8% versus 100, 100, and 94.4%, respectively. Using the log-rank test, IPTW-weighted Kaplan–Meier curves showed no significant differences for TX1 versus TX2 in DCGS (
p
 = 0.535) and OS (
p
 = 0.302). On Cox proportional hazards analysis for TX2 versus TX1, the IPTW-adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for DCGS was 1.75 (95% CI, 0.28–10.9;
p
 = 0.550) and for OS was 2.71 (95% CI, 0.40–18.55;
p
 = 0.311).
Conclusions
For patients who require TX2, this treatment is an acceptable option based on the short-term outcomes data for DCGS and OS.