Study Shows Little Benefit for Early Kidney Transplant

Although U.S. researchers have shown that someone with failing kidneys can benefit from a pre-emptive kidney transplant — one that takes place before they need dialysis — a Canadian study suggests that finding may not apply in all countries.

According to an article in a Canadian magazine, the idea of a pre-emptive kidney transplant is to avoid the potential complications of being hooked up to a dialysis machine. An analysis of a U.S. database showed the practice resulted in improved survival, but that doesn't appear to be the case in Canada, said Dr. Jeffrey Schiff, a kidney specialist at Toronto General Hospital.

Schiff and colleagues in Montreal studied data on more than 7,000 kidney transplants performed in Canada between 1991 and 2001. About 11 percent had a pre-emptive transplant, and the rest waited on dialysis for an average of more than two years. Their research showed no difference in survival between the two groups.

Schiff added that pre-emptive kidney transplants from living donors may last longer, but the advantage appears to be small. Overall, nearly one-third of the transplants were from live donors.

The clashing U.S. and Canadian findings may be due to differences in demographics, time periods or transplant-related practices in the two countries, he said (Macleans.ca).