Survival of patients on hemodialysis after renal graft failure.

The influence of kidney graft failure on the survival rate after reentering maintenance hemodialysis has been studied in 63 patients. Twenty-eight patients were observed for at least 12 months after a primary graft failure and 35 had a second transplant some time during this period. Patient survival 12 months after graft failure was 57%. This result was compared with the 1-year survival of 82% in 150 patients dialyzed prior to the first transplantation. The majority of the deaths on dialysis after graft failure were caused by infectious complications probably related to the immunosuppressive treatment. It is suggested that survival on dialysis after graft failure may be improved by an early reduction of the immunosuppressive treatment in patients with failing grafts.