RESULTS FROM A NEW RENAL TRANSPLANTATION UNIT

Peter J. Morris, M. Bishop, G. Fellows, J. G. Ledingham, A. Ting, D. Oliver, P. Cullen, M. French, J. C. Smith, K. Williams

Research output: Contribution to journalShort surveypeer-review

30 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

158 kidneys, 9 from living related donors and 149 from cadavers, have been transplanted in the first 42 months of the establishment of a transplant unit at Oxford. Patients' ages ranged from 11 to 56 (mean 35) years. Azathioprine and prednisolone alone were used for immunosuppression, and a minimum-transfusion policy was in operation throughout. After cadaveric transplantation actuarial patient-survival is 94% at both 1 and 2 years, while graft-survival is 70% and 68%, respectively, at the same intervals. 85% of patients who had a functioning graft are fully rehabilitated. Matching for HLA-DR, pregraft blood-transfusions, and the finding that a transplant could be performed in the presence of a positive B-cell crossmatch have proved to be the most significant of the many factors examined both prospectively and retrospectively. The function of the unit is based on dialysis and transplantation for all patients in end-stage renal failure, with transplantation being considered the first line of treatment for patients under the age of 56. The results of transplantation reported here, which have been achieved with conventional immunosuppressive therapy and minimum-transfusion policy, might be considered a standard against which modifications of the practice of renal transplantation can be compared.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1353-1356
Number of pages4
JournalThe Lancet
Volume312
Issue number8104
DOIs
Publication statusPublished or Issued - 30 Dec 1978
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Medicine

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