Roles of donor/recipient body surface area ratio and donor kidney glomerular filtration rate in kidney selection for living transplantation from family members

Abstract

Background: Accurate assessing donor renal function is crucial to the success of living kidney transplants. We studied the roles of donor kidney glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and donor/recipient body surface area (BSA) ratio in kidney selection for living transplantation from family members. Methods: We included 204 recipients who were subjected to living kidney transplantation from family members in our hospital from February 2011 to February 2015 and followed up for over 2 years. Recipients were divided into six groups according to donor GFR and donor/recipient BSA ratio. The effects of donor GFR or donor/recipient BSA ratio on the recovery of renal graft functions were evaluated. Results: The post-operative serum creatinine (SCr) reduction rate, steady-state SCr level, and estimated GFR (eGFR) of the group with donor GFR ≥ 40 ml/min were slightly higher to those of the group with donor GFR < 40 ml/min (p > 0.05). The renal function recovery of the group with donor/ recipient BSA ratio ≤ 0.8 was significantly lower than that of the group with donor/recipient BSA ratio ≥ 1.2 (p < 0.05). The post-operative SCr reduction rate, steady-state SCr level, and eGFR of the group with GFR < 40 ml/min and donor/recipient BSA ratio ≤ 0.8 were all significantly lower than those of the other five groups (P < 0.05). Such values of the two groups with donor/recipient BSA ratio >1.2 were significantly higher than those of the other four groups (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The selection of donor kidneys from relatives for living kidney transplantation should also consider donor/recipient BSA ratio in addition to donor GFR.