Long-Term Evaluation of Post-transplant Lymphoproliferative Disorders in Paediatric Heart Transplantation in Sao Paulo, Brazil

We sought to better define the demographics and characteristics of post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders (PTLD) in a cohort of paediatric OHT patients from a developing country. Data were collected from the Heart Institute, Sao Paulo, for all paediatric OHT recipients from October 1992 to October 2018. Group differences between the PTLD and non-PTLD cohorts were assessed by Fisher exact and Mann-Whitney U tests. Kaplan-Meier curves analysed the survival in each group. Data were reviewed for 202 paediatric OHT recipients. Overall 1-, 5- and 10-year survival for the entire cohort was 76.5%, 68.3% and 62.9%; 24 patients (11.9%) developed PTLD at a median 3.1 years (IQR 0.8-9.0) after OHT. Cases were evenly spread over the follow-up period, with PTLD diagnosed in 9.8% (n = 137) of patients who were alive at 3 years, 15.3% (n = 78) of patients who were alive at 5 years and 29.3% (n = 41) of patients who were alive at 10 years. The commonest form of PTLD was diffuse large B cell lymphoma (n = 9), and most patients received rituximab with immunosuppression and chemotherapy as treatment (n = 15). We identified no increased risk in mortality amongst the PTLD vs. non-PTLD cohorts in multivariate analysis (P = 0.365). PTLD after paediatric OHT had acceptable outcomes. However, risk factors for PTLD were not identified and warrant further investigation.

Single-centre prospective study

INTRODUCTION

There is enough evidence concerning the short-term safety of living donors after kidney transplantation. However, long-term complications continue to be studied, with a particular interest in young donors. Previous studies have been conducted in older donors for adult renal patients. We present a study of long-term complications in kidney donors for our paediatric population.

METHODS

We carried out a long-term donor study for the 54 living kidney-donor transplantations performed at our department from 1979 to June 2014. We monitored the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) on the basis of 24-hour urine creatinine clearance, 24-hour proteinuria and the development of arterial hypertension in the 48 donors who were followed up for more than one year. Only the 39 patients who were exclusively followed up by our department have been included in the results analysis.

RESULTS

GFR through creatinine clearance was stable after an initial decrease. No proteinuria was observed in any of the cases. One patient developed chronic kidney disease (CKD), which resulted in a cumulative incidence of 2%. GFR below 60mL/min/1.73 m² was not reported in any other patients. Arterial hypertension was diagnosed in 25% of donors, 90% of which were treated with antihypertensives.

CONCLUSIONS

Risk of CKD and hypertension in living kidney donors for paediatric recipients, who are carefully monitored throughout their evolution, is similar to that of the general population. Therefore, this technique appears to be safe in both the short and long term.