Although guidelines recommend a kidney biopsy in prospective living kidney donors with unexplained microscopic hematuria, individuals with mild hematuria are commonly allowed to donate without a biopsy. However, the prognostic implications of pre-donation hematuria are unclear. We investigated whether pre-donation microscopic hematuria is associated with changes in post-donation eGFR, proteinuria, or blood pressure. We included 701 living kidney donors with two pre-donation urinalyses and post-donation annual evaluations of the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), protein/creatinine ratio (PCR), and systolic blood pressure (SBP). The association between pre-donation microscopic hematuria and outcomes was assessed using generalized linear mixed models. The median [interquartile range] follow-up was 5 (2-8) years. Eighty-eight donors had pre-donation microscopic hematuria. There were no significant associations between microscopic hematuria at screening and the course of eGFR (0.44 mL/min/1.73 m2 increase/year for hematuria donors vs. 0.34 mL/min/1.73 m2 increase/year for non-hematuria donors (p = 0.65)), PCR (0.02 vs. 0.04 mg/mmol increase/year, p = 0.38), or SBP (1.42 vs. 0.92 mmHg increase/year, p = 0.17) post-donation, even after adjusting for potential confounders. Additional analyses in high-risk subgroups yielded similar results. In this study, pre-donation microscopic hematuria was not associated with post-donation eGFR decline, proteinuria, or hypertension. Microscopic hematuria may reflect primary kidney disease in only a limited subset of donors. Future studies should identify high-risk donor profiles that require further investigation.
Keywords: kidney biopsy; living kidney donation; living kidney donor evaluation; microscopic hematuria; post-donation outcomes; transplantation.