Transplantation Report 2: Pre-emptive renal transplantation in adults aged over 15 years

Between 1985 to 1992, 2545 renal transplantation (RTx) were performed as pre-emptive grafts in adults. This procedure represented 7.2% of first RTx for patients starting first renal replacement therapy (RRT) during this period, 6.1% of RTx performed in 1992 and 5.6% of all RTx ever performed and reported to the EDTA Registry. The procedure is more frequent in cases of live donor grafts, representing one third of pre-emptive RTx. Both 5 year patient and graft survivals are unaffected by dialysis duration prior to the first RTx: none in pre-emptive, < 1 years, 1-5 years or > 5 years. In our personal view, this procedure should be developed.