Is the risk of cardiovascular disease increased in living kidney donors? A Danish population-based cohort study

Abstract

Reduced renal function is associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD); however, how living donor nephrectomy affects the risk of CVD remains controversial. We conducted a nationwide cohort study including living kidney donors in Denmark from 1996 to 2018 to assess the risk of hypertension, atrial fibrillation/flutter (AF), major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE; composite of myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke, and death) and death after living kidney donation. As comparisons we identified: a cohort of healthy individuals from the general population and an external blood donor cohort. We followed kidney donors (1,103 when compared with the general population cohort; 1,007 when compared with blood donors) for a median of 8 years. Kidney donors had an increased risk of initiating treatment for hypertension when compared with blood donors (standardized incidence ratio [SIR], 1.40; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.17–1.66) but they did not have increased risk of MACE neither when compared with the general population cohort (hazard ratio, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.52–0.89) nor with blood donors (SIR, 1.17; 95% CI, 0.88–1.55). Neither did they have increased risks of AF and death. Thus, living kidney donation may be associated with increased risk of hypertension; however, we did not identify increased risks of CVD or death.