Donor conditions and graft survival - a retrospective study

In a retrospective study (one centre) the influence of donor and recipient factors were evaluated (n = 308). Head injury as the cause of death and anastomotic time less than 35 min were associated with a significantly better graft survival rate (P < 0.05). Although some of the donor factors influence graft survival, a stricter selection of grafts is not advisable, firstly because fewer kidneys would then be offered, and secondly because even comparatively bad graft survival rates are still better than dialysis.