Long-Term Outcomes of Living Kidney Donors Over the Past 28 Years in a Single Center in Taiwan

Abstract Background The chronic shortage of kidneys for transplantation has increased the number of living donations, but demand remains high, which has created a long waiting list of end-stage kidney disease patients. Donors with decreased renal mass may suffer a higher risk of developing proteinuria, hypertension (HTN), and chronic renal disease (CKD) during long-term follow-up. Methods We retrospectively retrieved medical data of living kidney donors at our hospital over the past 28 years. Results There were 45 male and 60 female donors with a mean donation age of 46.34 ± 12.47 years (range = 20–70y). The mean follow-up duration was 4.67 ± 4.78 years. The serum creatinine (Cr) at donation was 0.93 ± 0.22 mg/dL, while the latest Cr was 1.26 ± 0.45 mg/dL ( P P P P = .036, OR = 1.057) with longer follow-up durations ( P = .007, OR = 1.166) and had higher Cr values at donation ( P = .044, OR = 94.4). Donors with proteinuria were not related to gender, follow-up duration, initial Cr, warm ischemic time, or duration of admission. eGFR was indeed worse after donation ( P = .002). Conclusions Our results indicated a significant proportion of living donors may develop CKD upon long-term follow-up. The factors affecting donor risk of CKD were baseline renal function, older age, and duration after kidney donation.