BACKGROUND

Previously reported short-term results after live kidney donation, show no negative consequences for the donor. The occurrence of e.g. cardiovascular diseases takes years to emerge, making it highly likely that this will be missed during a short-term follow-up. Therefore evidence on long-term outcome is essential.

METHODS

A ten-year follow-up on renal function, (new onset) hypertension, quality of life (QOL), fatigue scores, and survival was done of a cohort of 100 donors of a single blind, randomised controlled trial.

RESULTS

After a median follow-up time of ten years, clinical data was available for 97 donors and QOL data was available for 74 donors . Nine donors died during follow-up of unrelated causes to donation, and one donor was lost to follow-up. There was a significant decrease in kidney function after ten years of follow-up of 12.9 ml/min (p<0.001), however there was no significant decrease compared to the kidney function after one year post donation (p=0.858). Physical fatigue score demonstrated a significant decrease at ten-year follow-up (p<0.001), which was also seen in QOL dimension score of physical function (p<0.001). Donors with pre-existing hypertension have a well regulated blood pressure without compromising their kidney function. New onset hypertension was present in 25.6% of the donors after ten years of follow-up (818 person-years). Their kidney function was not significantly different from non-hypertensive donors (p=0.109), however they were significantly older, mean age of 57 versus 45 years respectively (p=0.001). Donor and graft survival were 91% and 66% respectively.

CONCLUSION

Donor outcomes are excellent ten years after donor nephrectomy. Kidney function appears stable and hypertension does not seem to occur more frequently compared to the general population.

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