Background: Whether patients waitlisted for a second transplant after failure of a previous kidney graft have higher mortality than transplant-näive waitlisted patients is uncertain.
Methods: We assessed the relationship between a failed transplant and mortality in 3851 adult KT candidates, listed between 1984-2012, using a competing risk analysis in the total population and in a propensity score-matched cohort. Mortality was also modeled by inverse probability weighting (IPTW) competing risk regression.
Results: At waitlist entry 225 (5.8%) patients had experienced transplant failure. All-cause mortality was higher in the post-graft failure group (16% vs. 11%; P = 0.033). Most deaths occurred within three years after listing. Cardiovascular disease was the leading cause of death (25.3%), followed by infections (19.3%). Multivariate competing risk regression showed that prior transplant failure was associated with a 1.5-fold increased risk of mortality (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01-2.2). After propensity score matching (1:5), the competing risk regression model revealed a subhazard ratio (SHR) of 1.6 (95% CI, 1.01-2.5). A similar mortality risk was observed after the IPTW analysis (SHR, 1.7; 95% CI, 1.1-2.6).
Conclusions: Previous transplant failure is associated with increased mortality among KT candidates after relisting. This information is important in daily clinical practice when assessing relisted patients for a retransplant.