SEX OF THE PARENTAL DONOR AND CELLULAR REJECTION OF RENAL-ALLOGRAFTS IN CHILDREN

The survival of renal allografts of maternal and paternal origin has been assumed to be identical, and in reports concerning graft survival the outcome of parental transplants is not analyzed by sex of the donor. Fifty-five children received a parental kidney between January 1973 and March 1987 at one institution. There were 6 technical failures. Analysis of renal graft survival in the remaining 49 children indicates a disparity between maternal and paternal graft survival, with an increased propensity for loss of paternal grafts from cellular rejection. Nine of 22 paternal grafts are no longer functioning; 7 were lost from cellular rejection. In comparison, cellular rejection resulted in the loss of only 2 of 27 maternal grafts. This disadvantage of paternal grafts is most conspicuous in patients followed for 2 or more years; 7 of 15 paternal but only 1 of 20 maternal grafts were lost because of cellular rejection (P = 0.01). With causes of graft loss other than cellular rejection treated as withdrawal, actuarial survival of the 27 maternal grafts at 1 and 5 years is 96% and 91%, respectively, while that of the 22 paternal grafts is 83% and 58% (P = 0.017). Analysis of data from other centers will help determine whether our observation is of clinical significance.