Hypertension in renal transplantation: donor and recipient risk factors

AIMS: To determine the respective roles of donor and recipient factors in the subsequent development of hypertension after renal transplantation. PATIENTS AND METHODS: All the patients transplanted between January 1990 and December 1999 who still had a functioning graft 1 year post-transplant (n = 321) were retrospectively studied. Blood pressure was assessed at 1 year post-transplant. Hypertension was defined as a systolic BP > or equal 140 mmHg or diastolic BP > or equal 90 mmHg, or use of antihypertensive medication. Relevant donor and recipient characteristics were recorded. RESULTS: Two-hundred-and-sixty-three patients (82%) were hypertensive. In multivariate analysis, pretransplant hypertension (RR, 1.74, 95% CI, 1.07 to 2.87), anticalcineurin use (RR, 2.59, 95% CI, 1.13 to 5.92), urinary protein excretion (RR, 1.84, 95% CI, 1.06 to 3.18), BMI (RR, 1.08, 95% CI, 1.01 to 1.16), donor age (RR, 1.28,95% CI, 1.05 to 1.59, for each 10-year increase in donor age) and donor aortorenal atheroma (OR, 2.34; 95% CI, 1.24 to 4.46) were associated with hypertension. Among patients under calcineurin inhibitors, those receiving cyclosporine were more prone to have hypertension than those receiving tacrolimus (88.7% vs 78%; p = 0.04). CONCLUSION: Both recipient and donor factors contribute to hypertension in RTR.