The outcome of primary kidney transplantation in 241 male patients was studied with reference to pretransplant blood transfusions. 55 patients received kidneys from living related donors with one shared HLA-haplotype, 186 patients received kidneys from cadaveric donors. The graft survival was calculated after exclusion of graft loss due to non-immunological reasons. The graft survival was found to be significantly higher in transfused recipients, especially in patients receiving kidneys from living related donors.