All issues > Volume 47(1); 2004

Original Article

Korean J Pediatr. 2004;47(1):55-65. Published online January 15, 2004.

Clinical Experience of 60 Pediatric Renal Transplantations at a Single Center

Sun Youn SY Lee¹, Hyewon HW Han¹, Young Seo YS Park¹, Duck Jong DJ Han²

¹Department of Pediatrics, Asan Medical Center, College of Medicine, University of Ulsan, Seoul, Korea
²Department of Surgery, Asan Medical Center, College of Medicine, University of Ulsan, Seoul, Korea

Correspondence Young Seo YS Park ,Email: yspark@amc.seoul.kr

Abstract

Purpose
: Renal transplantation for the management of end-stage renal disease(ESRD) in children is now the optimal treatment. We analyzed the clinical courses and characteristics of pediatric renal transplantation in Asan Medical Center.
Methods
: We reviewed the charts of 60 cases of renal transplantation under the age of 18, admitted to Asan Medical Center, from Oct. 1990 to May 2003. We analyzed retrospectively to clarify the clinical courses, risk factors affecting graft survival, recurrence of the original disease, complications and growth.
Results
: Graft was taken from 48 living donors, and 12 cadaveric donors. The mean age at transplantation was 13.1 years. The overall graft survival rates were 96.3% at one year, 84.4% at five year, 47.6% at 10 years. The overall patient survival rates were 98.1% at one year, 95.1% at five years, 95.1% at 10 years. A total of 13 grafts were lost(21.7%). The presence of acute rejection within one year after graft(P=0.0045) and recipient less than five years old(P=0.0027) were significant risk factors for poor graft survival. The recurrence rate of original disease was 8.3% and the most common complication was infection(50%). In the group less than 3 percentile of pretransplantation height, there were much longer duration of ESRD and much greater growth after transplantation(P=0.002).
Conclusion
: The graft survival rate for pediatric renal transplantation has been greatly increased, similar to those of adult renal transplantation with the development of operation techniques and immunosuppressants. Further studies into the factors improving graft survival and new immunosuppressants to reduce the rate of rejection, and efforts to reduce the incidence of infection, are needed at this time.

Keywords :Pediatric renal transplantation, Graft survival rate, Rejection