The first true kidney transplant in a child was performed in 1959. Over the past 60 years, the survival rate after a kidney transplant in children has increased dramatically due to better drugs, fewer infections and more living donors.
This is the conclusion of Loes Oomen, a medical researcher in the Radboudumc Department of Urology, and her colleagues. They conducted a large study on the development of kidney transplants in children which was recently published in Borders in Pediatrics. To do this, they compared data on 411 kidney transplants in children performed between 1968 and 2020 in their center with existing literature.
In the initial period, 42% of patients still had a functioning kidney 5 years after transplant, compared with 93% now. Furthermore, the quality of life of patients is now much better. The main reason for better graft survival is that much better immunosuppressants are available. Furthermore, most children today receive a kidney from a living donor. In many cases – certainly in the Netherlands – this is one of the parents. Because they are often relatively young and healthy, surgery can be well planned and there is usually a good genetic match, the chance of rejection is less. Also, preventive transplants are more common.
Bron:
–
