Multivariate analysis of risk factors in cadaver donor kidney transplantation

Data collected prospectively on 3811 kidney transplants performed between June 1977 and July 1982 with follow-up to July 1984 by the 42 member institutions of the South-Eastern Organ Procurement foundation were analyzed to identify factors associated with graft and patient outcome in patents not receiving cyclosorine. Multivariate Cox regression analysis was used to examine the assocaiton and relative risk of 24 variables with three acturarial outcomes: overall graft failure, irreversible rejection, and patient death. Factors having no suggested association with any outcome included: recipient sex, hisory of pregnancy, blood group, and time on dialyis; organ preservation method, time and source; donor race; crossmatch test sensitivity; and annual center transplant rate. In decreasing order of relative risk, the factors most significantly associated with irreversible rejection were: loss of two or more prior grafts, low HLA-A, B match, lack of pretransplant blood transfusion, high (