Hypertension in Living Kidney Donors Ups Proteinuria Risk

The long-term safety of donor nephrectomy in hypertensive living donors still needs to be fully elucidated. Source: Getty Images

Hypertension in living kidney donors increases the risk for proteinuria, investigators reported at the 60th European Renal Association Congress in Milan, Italy.

Using the Korean Organ Transplantation Registry (KOTRY), investigators identified 642 hypertensive and 4848 normotensive living kidney donors. Hypertensive donors had a significant 1.8-fold increased risk for proteinuria compared with normotensive donors, Hyeon Seok Hwang, MD, of Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, and colleagues reported. Proteinuria risk tended to increase even after 4-5 years, they noted.

Both before and after nephrectomy, hypertensive living donors had lower estimated glomerular filtration rates (eGFR) than normotensive donors. They had no greater risk of developing chronic kidney disease, however. The risk of eGFR falling below 60 or 45 mL/min/1.73 m² did not differ significantly between groups.

“Careful monitoring for proteinuria is required in hypertensive donors after nephrectomy,” Dr Hwang’s team concluded.

Reference

Kim JH, Lee YH, Yoon SY, et al. Comparisons of clinical outcomes between hypertensive and normotensive living kidney donors: a nationwide prospective cohort study. Presented at: ERA 2023 Congress; June 15-18; Milan, Italy. Poster 4343.