The effect of cyclosporine on prognostic factors in cadaveric renal retransplantation

Between January 1, 1984 and October 16, 1987, 175 (21.4%) retransplants were performed at the University of Pittsburgh. Ninety seven of these were second transplants who received both kidneys at our center with cyclosporine (CyA) immunosuppression. The mean age was 35.6 years, 36 (37%) were older than 40, 14 (14.4%) were diabetics, 46 (49%) had a peak panel reactive antibody level (PRA) greater than 50% and 14 (14.4%) had a current PRA greater than 50% at the time of transplantation. The 1-yr patient and allograft survival were 98% and 70% respectively. Neither duration of primary graft function, PRA level, HLA-DR matching, repetition of HLA-DR mismatched antigens, or age greater than 40 yr had a significant impact on 1-yr graft survival. This study suggests that the use of cyclosporine in both transplants diminished the effect of these factors which were strong prognostic indicators of second graft outcome in the pre-cyclosporine era.