Background: Patients with kidney failure often present with reduced cardiovascular reserve. Kidney transplantation (KT) is the optimal treatment for patients with end-stage kidney disease as it is associated with longer survival and improved quality of life compared to dialysis.
Methods: This is a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies using cardiopulmonary-exercise-testing to examine the cardiorespiratory fitness of patients with kidney failure before and after KT. The primary outcome was difference in pre- and post-transplantation values of peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak). Literature search involved three databases (PubMed-Web of Science-Scopus), manual search, and grey literature.
Results: From 379 records initially retrieved, six studies were included in final meta-analysis. A marginal, but not significant, improvement was observed in VO2peak after KT compared to pre-transplantation values (SMD: 0.32, 95%CI -0.02; 0.67). Oxygen consumption at anaerobic threshold was significantly improved after KT (WMD: 2.30 ml/kg/min, 95%CI 0.50; 4.09). Consistent results were shown between preemptive and after-dialysis-initiation transplantation and a trend for improvement in VO2peak was observed at least 3 months post-transplantation, but not earlier.
Conclusion: Several major indices of cardiorespiratory fitness tend to improve after KT. This finding may represent another modifiable factor contributing to better survival rates of kidney transplant recipients compared to patients undergoing dialysis.
Keywords: Cardiopulmonary exercise testing; VO2peak; end-stage kidney disease; exercise capacity; kidney transplantation.