Successful renal transplantation with cadaveric donor kidneys of extremely prolonged cold ischaemic time.

At 3, 6 and 12 months, there was no difference in renal function and survival between a group of renal transplant recipients who received cadaveric donor kidneys of extremely prolonged cold ischaemic time (group median 60 h; range 35-82 h), compared to a group who received cadaveric donor kidneys of shorter cold ischaemic time (group median 20 h; range 6-44 h). The prolonged cold ischaemic time group had a higher incidence of primary non-function, but the duration of primary non-function was not different between the two groups. The prolonged cold ischaemic time group had significantly fewer episodes of rejection. Despite the increased incidence of primary non-function, this study shows that it is safe to use low-dose cyclosporin A in kidney grafts with an extremely prolonged cold ischaemic time.