Transplant risks.

1. Changes in serum creatinine is a potentially useful predictor of chronic rejection. Patients with 2 10% increases in creatinine values in 3 consecutive years between 1-5 years had 4 times the risk of chronic rejection graft loss than patients with stable creatinine. 2. Formation of HLA antibody may correlate with graft rejection since losing a kidney increased the risk of broad sensitization 5-fold and losing multiple kidneys increased the risk ten-fold. 3. Sensitization increased the risk of acute and chronic rejection while pregnancies decreased the risk of acute and chronic rejection suggesting that pregnancy may result in "beneficial" sensitization. 4. HLA matching was the most potent factor decreasing the risk of acute rejection 2-fold and chronic rejection by 62%. 5. The incidence of acute and chronic rejection have both decreased significantly since 1994.