The utilization of heterogeneous clinical criteria to define DGF has certain limitations. It will lead to delayed and sometimes inaccurate diagnosis of DGF. Hence a diagnostic test that identifies DGF reliably and early is necessary. Heterogeneity, in the definitions used for DGF, hinders the evolution of a diagnostic technique to identify DGF, which requires a gold standard definition. We are in need of a new definition that is uniformly accepted across the kidney transplant community. The new definition will be helpful in promoting better communication among transplant professionals and aids in comparing clinical studies of diagnostic techniques to identify DGF and thus may facilitate clinical trials of interventions for the treatment of DGF.

Current methods for predicting graft recovery after kidney transplantation are not reliable. We performed a prospective, multicenter, observational cohort study of deceased-donor kidney transplant patients to evaluate urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), IL-18, and kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) as biomarkers for predicting dialysis within 1 wk of transplant and subsequent graft recovery. We collected serial urine samples for 3 d after transplant and analyzed levels of these putative biomarkers. We classified graft recovery as delayed graft function (DGF), slow graft function (SGF), or immediate graft function (IGF). Of the 91 patients in the cohort, 34 had DGF, 33 had SGF, and 24 had IGF. Median NGAL and IL-18 levels, but not KIM-1 levels, were statistically different among these three groups at all time points. ROC curve analysis suggested that the abilities of NGAL or IL-18 to predict dialysis within 1 wk were moderately accurate when measured on the first postoperative day, whereas the fall in serum creatinine (Scr) was not predictive. In multivariate analysis, elevated levels of NGAL or IL-18 predicted the need for dialysis after adjusting for recipient and donor age, cold ischemia time, urine output, and Scr. NGAL and IL-18 quantiles also predicted graft recovery up to 3 mo later. In summary, urinary NGAL and IL-18 are early, noninvasive, accurate predictors of both the need for dialysis within the first week of kidney transplantation and 3-mo recovery of graft function.

Deceased-donor kidneys with acute kidney injury (AKI) are often discarded due to fear of poor outcomes. We performed a multicenter study to determine associations of AKI (increasing admission-to-terminal serum creatinine by AKI Network stages) with kidney discard, delayed graft function (DGF) and 6-month estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). In 1632 donors, kidney discard risk increased for AKI stages 1, 2 and 3 (compared to no AKI) with adjusted relative risks of 1.28 (1.08–1.52), 1.82 (1.45–2.30) and 2.74 (2.0–3.75), respectively. Adjusted relative risk for DGF also increased by donor AKI stage: 1.27 (1.09–1.49), 1.70 (1.37–2.12) and 2.25 (1.74–2.91), respectively. Six-month eGFR, however, was similar across AKI categories but was lower for recipients with DGF (48 [interquartile range: 31–61] vs. 58 [45–75] ml/min/1.73m2 for no DGF, P<0.001). There was significant favorable interaction between donor AKI and DGF such that 6-month eGFR was progressively better for DGF kidneys with increasing donor AKI (46 [29–60], 49 [32–64], 52 [36–59] and 58 [39–71] ml/min/1.73m2 for no AKI, stage 1, 2 and 3, respectively; interaction P=0.05). Donor AKI is associated with kidney discard and DGF, but given acceptable 6-month allograft function, clinicians should consider cautious expansion into this donor pool.

Objective To determine whether people who donate a kidney have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.Design Retrospective population based matched cohort study.Participants All people who were carefully selected to become a living kidney donor in the province of Ontario, Canada, between 1992 and 2009. The information in donor charts was manually reviewed and linked to provincial healthcare databases. Matched non-donors were selected from the healthiest segment of the general population. A total of 2028 donors and 20 280 matched non-donors were followed for a median of 6.5 years (maximum 17.7 years). Median age was 43 at the time of donation (interquartile range 34-50) and 50 at the time of follow-up (42-58).

Despite having a much higher likelihood of DGF, obese transplant recipients have only a slightly increased risk of graft loss and experience similar survival to recipients with normal BMI.