Improved patient survival in renal transplantation.

Patient and graft survival in 655 consecutive renal transplants performed at the University of California, San Francisco, was analyzed in two separate groups to assess the results of the low-dose immunosuppressive regimen established in September, 1972. These results show that graft survival is not jeopardized by adopting a policy of low-dose immunosuppressive therapy, but, in fact, that patient survival is improved significantly. This study also shows that cadaver renal transplantation can be performed with a mortality rate comparable to or better than that in patients on chronic hemodialysis.