Background: The effect on allograft survival of the shipment of cadaveric renal allografts from one organ-procurement organization to another is uncertain.
Methods: Using data from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network of the United Network for Organ Sharing, we identified 5446 pairs of cadaveric kidneys (10,892 allografts) in which one kidney was shipped and the other was transplanted locally. We compared the risk of graft failure using statistical models that accounted for confounding variables, including the degree of HLA mismatching.
Results: After adjustment for the degree of HLA mismatching, shipped organs had a significantly higher rate of allograft failure than locally transplanted organs in the first year after transplantation (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.17; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.05 to 1.31; P=0.004), but not thereafter. An association between the shipment of organs with no HLA mismatches and allograft failure was not confirmed.
Conclusions: The shipment of cadaveric renal allografts increases the risk of failure of HLA-mismatched grafts during the first year after transplantation.