Swiss Medical Weekly (Jun 2016)

2222 kidney transplantations at the University Hospital Basel: a story of success and new challenges

  • Caroline Wehmeier,
  • Argyrios Georgalis,
  • Patricia Hirt-Minkowski,
  • Patrizia Amico,
  • Gideon Hoenger,
  • Thomas Voegele,
  • Nicole Brun,
  • Andreas Bock,
  • Thomas Wolff,
  • Lorenz Guerke,
  • Alexander Bachmann,
  • Helmut Hopfer,
  • Michael Dickenmann,
  • Jürg Steiger,
  • Stefan Schaub

DOI
https://doi.org/10.4414/smw.2016.14317
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 146, no. 2526

Abstract

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QUESTIONS UNDER STUDY: The aim was to investigate changes in kidney allograft donor/recipient characteristics and outcomes at our centre. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed all 2222 kidney transplantations performed between 1967 and 2015. The population was divided into four eras on the basis of time intervals corresponding to major changes in immunosuppression and pretransplant risk stratification: (i.) 1967–1980 (n = 231), (ii.) 1981–1997 (n = 883), (iii.) 1998–2004 (n = 437), (iv.) 2005–2015 (n = 671). RESULTS: In deceased donor transplants, we observed a continuous increase of the median recipient (45, 51, 56 and 58 years; p 15 ml/min. CONCLUSION: Despite increasing donor and recipient age, outcomes improved, illustrating ongoing progress in kidney transplantation. A major new challenge is to match the functional capacity of the donor organ with the anticipated lifespan of the recipient.

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