Symptomatic atherosclerotic vascular disease and graft survival in primary kidney transplant recipients - Observational analysis of the united network of organ sharing database

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate whether symptomatic atherosclerotic vascular disease (SAVD) was associated with graft survival in primary kidney transplant recipients.

Summary background data: Recipient atherosclerotic vascular disease is associated with increased mortality rates amongst renal transplant patients. However, its relationship with graft survival has not been well studied.

Methods: This retrospective observational analysis was performed using data for adult kidney transplant recipients between 11/09/2000 and 28/02/2020 extracted from the UNOS national organ transplantation database. Patients were divided into two groups based on recipient history of symptomatic atherosclerotic disease (angina or peripheral vascular disease). Risk-adjusted outcomes were assessed by multivariate Cox regression analysis adjusting for both donor and recipient characteristics.

Results: 11,771 adult kidney transplant recipients from the UNOS database were eligible for analysis (1543 had a history of SAVD, 10,228 did not have a history of SAVD). After adjusting for confounders, positive SAVD status was associated with an adverse effect on graft survival at both 1 year (HR 1.35, p < 0.001) and 10 years (HR 1.15, p < 0.001).

Conclusions: SAVD should be considered an independent risk factor for poor prognosis in patients undergoing kidney transplant.