Prevalence, causes, and complications of acute kidney transplant rejection: survey in a single center

Kidney transplantation has become a preferred surgical treatment for several
renal disorders. To obtain information on acute transplant rejection and its complications,
it is important to determine rejection prevalence and its potential causes. Methods: In this
retrospective, 37-year study, 2,250 patients underwent conventional kidney transplantation.
Patients who experienced graft loss, who underwent nephrectomy of the transplanted
kidney during the frst month after transplantation, or who died were enrolled the study. All
required data were recorded in a designed questionnaire. Results: Of the 2,557 patients who
underwent kidney transplantation, 86 (3.36%) experienced acute graft loss during the frst
month after transplantation; of these, 43 (50%) were men and 43 (50%) were women. The
mean age of the patients who experienced acute graft loss was 40.09 ± 14.09 years. The most
common underlying causes of acute graft loss were as follows: acute rejection of transplanted
kidney%), renal vein thrombosis (17.5%), heart infarction (13.9%), and idiopathy (6.9%).
Of these 86 patients, 33 underwent nephrectomy after rejection; however, 53 responded well
to medical treatment. In addition, 33 patients (38.4%) underwent acute nephrectomy during
the frst month after transplantation, which constituted in 33 patients (1.2%) of the total graft
losses. Conclusion: In our study, renal vein thrombosis was the most common underlying
cause of graft loss in kidney transplantation patients that can be prevented using anticoagulants
or other drugs to help prevent such outcomes., and graft rejection occurred most commonly in
the frst week after transplantation