The impact of pulmonary hypertension on the risk of early graft dysfunction in related kidney transplantation

Introduction. Pulmonary hypertension is a common complication among patients with end-stage renal disease and has a significant impact on the outcome of kidney transplantation, including during kidney transplantation from a living related donor. Objective. To study the prevalence of pulmonary hypertension among patients with end-stage renal disease and to determine its impact on the development of early renal graft dysfunction. Material and methods. The study was based on the analysis of treatment results in 650 patients who underwent kidney transplantation from a living related donor. Depending on the graft function, 2 groups of patients were identified: group I consisting of patients with early renal graft dysfunction (n=82); group II (n=79) that included the patients with a primary graft function who were selected by demographic and clinical laboratory data statistically comparable to patients of group I (p>0.5). This allowed us to equalize the chances of achieving the study endpoint (early graft dysfunction). Transthoracic echocardiography was performed in all patients, with the calculation of the mean pulmonary artery pressure. The relative risk of early renal graft dysfunction was calculated depending on the presence of pulmonary hypertension and its severity. Results. Among group I patients, pulmonary hypertension was detected in 97.56% of cases (mean pulmonary artery pressure 48.26±18.63 mmHg), versus 86.08% in patients with a primary graft function (mean pulmonary artery pressure 31.92±16.11 mmHg) (p<0.001). The presence of mild pulmonary hypertension increased the relative risk of early graft dysfunction by 2.58 times (95% CI [0.698-9.547]; p=0.174), moderate by 3.18 times (95% CI [0.860-11.764]; p=0.064), severe by 5.91 times (95% CI [1.644-21.241]; p<0.001) compared with patients without pulmonary hypertension. Conclusions. When performing kidney transplantation from a living donor, the presence of severe pulmonary hypertension in the recipient is associated with an increased risk of early graft dysfunction. This suggests that pulmonary hypertension may be one of the modifiable risk factors for this complication.