Delayed Recovery of Renal Function After Donor Nephrectomy

Background. Many living kidney donors are still at risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD) 1 year after nephrectomy. Although some donors still experience poor renal function, many exhibit delayed recovery of renal function afterwards. We studied the factors related to delayed recovery of renal function in patients with CKD at 1 year after nephrectomy. Methods. Patients who underwent donor nephrectomy from March 2006 to April 2014 with a follow-up creatinine study at 1 month, 6 months, 1 year, and after 3 years of follow-up were included in the study. Age, sex, history of hypertension or diabetes, body mass index, blood pressure, complete blood cell count, preoperative routine serum chemistry, and urine study results were reviewed. Results. Among 275 donors, 83 (30.2%) who had an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) <60 mL/min/1.73 m(2) at 1 year of follow-up were included in the study, and the eGFR was observed during a median follow-up of 62.0 months (interquartile range [IQR], 48.9-83.1 months). Those who had improvements in eGFR of >5 mL/min/1.73 m(2) were included in the recovery group (n = 48 [57.8%]), and those who did not were included in the nonrecovery group (n = 35 [42.2%]). The preoperative and 1-year follow-up eGFR did not differ significantly between the 2 groups, and the maximum eGFR after 3 years was higher in the recovery group (68.68 mL/min/1.73 m(2) [IQR, 61.81-75.64 mL/min/1.73 m(2)] vs 55.63 mL/min/1.73 m(2) [IQR, 51.73-58.29 mL/min/1.73 m(2)]; P < .001). The recovery group was more likely to have a history of hypertension (4.2% vs 20%; P = .032), a lower body mass index (24.11 kg/m(2) [IQR, 22.04-25.20 kg/m(2)] vs 25.25 kg/m(2) [IQR, 23.23-26.44 kg/m(2)]; P = .01), and a lower preoperative uric acid level (4.7 mg/dL [IQR, 3.8-5.4 mg/dL] vs 5.3 mg/dL [IQR, 4.4-6.2 mg/dL]; P = .031). After multivariate logistic regression analysis, history of hypertension (odds ratio, 0.131; P = .022) and uric acid level (odds ratio, 0.641; P = .036,) remained as significant factors. Conclusions. Although 30.2% of donors had CKD at 1 year after nephrectomy, 57.8% reported improved renal function. Those with a history of hypertension and high preoperative uric acid levels were less likely to have improvements in renal function and required close follow-up.