Outcomes of preemptive kidney with or without subsequent pancreas transplant compared with preemptive simultaneous pancreas/kidney transplantation

Background. Prior studies have indicated that type 1 diabetic (T1DM) recipients of a simultaneous pancreas-kidney (SPK) transplant have greater short-term mortality compared with living donor kidney (LDK) transplantation. Whether this association remains and how outcomes compare to deceased donor kidney (DDK) transplantation in the preemptive setting are unknown. Methods. Using data on recipients transplanted between 2000 and 2010 from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network/United Network of Organ Sharing, patient and graft survival (calculated from the time of kidney transplant) of pancreas after preemptive LDK (PALK, n=389), preemptive LDK not receiving a pancreas transplant (LDK/noP, n=289), preemptive DDK (n=112), and preemptive SPK transplantations (n=1402) were compared. Results. At 6 years, patient survival was excellent (PALK=89.4%, LDK/noP=84.9%, DDK=81.2%, and SPK=91.1%) and not different between PALK, LDK/noP, and SPK (P value vs. PALK: LDK/noP=0.08; SPK=0.85) but was lower with preemptive DDK versus preemptive PALK (P=0.03). When both LDK groups were considered together, there was higher mortality in the first 180 days after transplant with preemptive DDK (3.7% vs. 1.1%; P=0.03) and similar mortality with preemptive SPK (2.3%; P=0.07). After multivariate adjustment, there was a trend toward increased risk of death with preemptive DDK compared with preemptive PALK (hazard ratio: 1.91; 95% confidence interval: 0.95-3.84). Conclusions. Patient survival associated with preemptive transplantation among T1DM recipients was excellent at 6 years, with the greatest survival favoring PALK, LDK/noP, and SPK rather than DDK. In contrast with prior studies reporting greater short-term mortality with SPK among the general T1DM population, short-term mortality after preemptive transplant is similar between LDK and SPK.