Kidney Transplant Program of the Ajou University Hospital

Oh, Chang Kwon; Kim, Do Hun; Kim, Heung Soo; Shin, Kyu Tae; Kim, Young Soo; Chung, Do Young; Kim, Myung Wook

Abstract

The Ajou University Hospital opened in September, 1994. We performed our first kidney transplant in June 1995. So far, we have performed 40 kidney transplants with all of the recipients having excellent renal function at present. We now report the various clinical aspects of kidney transplant recipients operated at the Ajou University Hospital. The kidney transplant program at the Ajou Univerisity Hospital has several characteristics in comparison to other hospitals in Korea. One of them is a higher proportion of cadaveric donor (37.5%). Another is ALG (anti-lymphocyte globulin) induction of immunosuppression in the selected cases of cadaveric renal transplantation. The incidence of early rejection was significantly decreased by the introduction of ALG induction in cadaveric renal transplant compared with cyclosporine induction. We have aggressively performed the renal allograft biopsies in cases of early graft dysfunction or unexplained change in graft function during the follow-up. In cases of delayed graft function, we have done routine graft biopsies at regular intervals, which helped detect early episodes of acute rejection superimposed upon severe acute tubular necrosis. The occurrence of polycythemia (20%) after renal transplantation was primarily controlled by ACE(angiotensin-convertine enzyme) inhibitor except in one case of chronic rejection. As a result of well coordinated efforts by all the members in the transplant team, all 40 patients have done exceptionally well, and the serum creatinine levels in all the patients are under 2.0 mg/dl.