Rejection rates in kidney transplant patients with and without IgA nephropathy

Background. Based on graft survival rates it has been claimed that patients with IgA nephropathy have a reduced risk of rejection after kidney transplantation. We wanted to evaluate this hypothesis. Methods. Certified IgA nephropathy was the original disease in 70 of 874 consecutive kidney transplant patients (8.0%). Eighty per cent of the patients were men. Median age was 37 years, range 9-64. Fifty-three per cent had living donors and 20% of the transplantations were pre-emptive. Non-diabetic patients matched for age, sex, type of donor, and transplant number served as controls. Median follow-up time was 68 months. Duration of treatment for rejection during the first year post-transplant and graft loss due to rejection was recorded. Results. The fraction of patients treated for rejection during the first year was 53% versus 54% of controls and the number of days when any antirejection treatment was given was 5.0+/-7.5 versus 5.5+/-7.4. Actual 3-year graft survival was 81% versus 80% and the number of grafts lost due to rejection was 9 versus 11. Conclusions. Rejection rates were not reduced in patients with IgA nephropathy and survival of grafts and patients not better than for matched controls.