Patients on dialysis and recipients of renal transplants have higher mortality than individuals without kidney disease. In this study we evaluated the possible impact of dialysis therapy before transplantation on patient survival after the transplant. This analysis includes all of the patients who received a cadaveric renal transplant at The Ohio State University from 1984 to 1991 and who remained alive with functioning grafts for at least six months after the transplant (N = 523). After a follow-up of 84 +/- 14 months, 28% of the patients died and 23% lost their grafts. By multivariate analysis, reduced patient survival (censored at the time of graft loss) correlated with these pre-transplant variables: Older age (P < 0.0001), the presence of diabetes (P = 0.0002), smoking (P = 0.009), and the length of time on dialysis (P = 0.0002). Thus, 7% of patients who were never dialyzed, 23% of those dialyzed for less than three years, and 44% of patients dialyzed for > or = three years died post-transplant. By Cox regression, patient survival months correlated with time on dialysis pre-transplant (P = 0.0003). The type of dialysis (CAPD vs. hemodialysis) did not correlate with patient survival. Graft survival, censored for patient death, did not correlate with any of these pre-transplant variables. The relationship between time on dialysis and patient mortality is due to at least two factors: (1) transplant recipients who had dialysis for > or = 3 years had higher mortality due to infections (22%) than those who had dialysis for < 3 years (3%, P = 0.01 by X2); and (2) increasing time on dialysis increases the prevalence of both left ventricular hypertrophy (P = 0.008) and cardiomegaly (P = 0.004), and these relationships are statistically independent of other factors that also correlate with the prevalence of cardiovascular disease. In conclusion, increased time on dialysis prior to renal transplantation is associated with decreased survival of transplant recipients.

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Renal transplant recipients have significantly higher mortality than individuals without kidney disease and the excess mortality is mainly due to cardiovascular causes. In this study, we sought to determine the impact of smoking, a major cardiovascular risk factor, on patient and renal graft survival. The study population included all adult recipients of first cadaveric kidney transplants done in our institution from 1984 to 1991. By selection, all patients were alive and had a functioning graft for at least 1 yr after transplantation. Smoking history was gathered prior to transplantation. The follow‐up period was 84.3±41 months and during this time 28% of the patients died and 21% lost their graft. By univariate and multivariate analysis, patient survival, censored at the time of graft loss, correlated with these pre‐transplant variables: age (p<0.0001); diabetes (p=0.0002); history of cigarette smoking (p=0.004); time on dialysis prior to the transplant (p=0.0005); and cardiomegaly by chest X‐ray (p=0.0005). Post‐transplant variables did not correlate with patient mortality. By Cox regression, patient survival time was significantly shorter in diabetics (p<0.0001), smokers (p=0.0005), and recipients older than 40 yr. However, there were no significant differences between the survival of smokers, non‐diabetics, diabetics, and older recipients. Patient death was the most common cause of renal transplant failure in smokers, in patients older than 40 yr, and in diabetics, but these patient characteristics did not correlate with graft survival. The prevalence of different causes of death was not significantly different between smokers and non‐smokers. In conclusion, a history of cigarette smoking correlates with decreased patient survival after transplantation, and the magnitude of the negative impact of smoking in renal transplant recipients is quantitatively similar to that of diabetes.