Comorbid Conditions in Kidney Transplantation: Outcome Analysis at King Abdulaziz Medical City

Background: Kidney transplantation is most commonly performed for end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and provides the best chance for a cure. The surgery is shown to be beneficial to a patient’s quality of life after transplantation in multiple studies. But graft failure is a serious consequence that might happen. The term graft failure refers to the failure of a transplanted kidney to function properly. There are various reasons why this can happen, such as rejection, infection, or medication complications. Methods: A retrospective cohort study of comorbid conditions in patients who underwent renal transplantation at King Abdulaziz Medical City (KAMC) between 2016 and 2022. Data were collected by chart review using the BestCare system. The data collected included patients’ demographics, comorbidities, calculated Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), surgery-related data, laboratory data, and the outcome of transplantation. The categorical data were presented using percentages and frequencies, while the numerical data were presented as mean and standard deviation. The Chi-square test was used for inferential statistics to find the association between categorical variables. Results: A total of 669 patients were included in the current study. Of these, 422 (63.1%) were men, and the mean age was 44 years. The incidence of graft failure within one year at KAMC was found to be 1.2% (eight cases). Regarding the CCI and its association with graft failure within one year, 37 (5.5%) patients had a myocardial infarction (MI) and 17 (2.5%) had congestive heart failure; however, no patients with MI or congestive heart failure experienced graft failure, and no significant association was found between MI or congestive heart failure and graft failure (p-value = 1.000 for both). A total of 417 (62.3%) patients had no or diet-controlled diabetes, 122 (18.2%) had uncomplicated diabetes mellitus (DM), and 130 (19.4%) had end-organ damage. DM and graft failure were not significantly associated (p-value = 1.000). A total of 286 (42.8%) patients had ESRD of unknown etiology, 109 (16.3%) patients had ESRD caused by diabetic nephropathy, and 100 (14.9%) had ESRD resulting from hypertension, apart from other causes. Conclusion: Most patients were found to have ESRD of unknown etiology and the most frequently reported known risk factor for ESRD and subsequent transplantation was found to be diabetic nephropathy, followed by hypertension.