The first study to document that patients who receive kidney transplants live longer than those who remain on dialysis estimates that transplant patients will live an average of a decade longer.
The longitudinal study looked at 228,552 patients who were receiving long-term dialysis for end-stage kidney disease. A total of 46,164 of the patients were placed on a waiting list for kidney transplantation, 23,275 of whom received a first transplant between 1991 and 1997. Patients who were placed on a waiting list were healthier than those who were not placed on a list, and they had a better likelihood of survival.
Overall, recipients of kidneys were expected to live 20 more years, while dialysis patients who remained on a waiting list were expected to live 10 more years. Depending on the age of the patients, the long-term mortality rate was 48% to 82% lower among transplant recipients than among patients on a waiting list.
The findings were reported on December 2 in The New England Journal of Medicine (1999;341:1725-1730) by Robert A. Wolfe, PhD, of the University of Michigan, and colleagues.
In an accompanying editorial (1999;341:1762-1763), Lawrence G. Hunsicker, MD, of University of Iowa College of Medicine wrote that the study "will refocus attention on kidney transplantation as a lifesaving rather just a life-enhancing procedure. Potential living donors may be more strongly motivated to provide a kidney to a loved one if they know that doing so will not only improve the quality of life for the recipient but also most likely prolong life."
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