Prediction of long-term kidney transplant survival rates by monitoring early graft function and clinical grades.

Statistically significant correlations were found between kidney graft function at 1 day, 1 week, or 1 month and long-term graft survival. Transplant centers with poor early results usually had poor long-term outcome. Assignment of clinical grades to patients with transplants also correlated significantly with subsequent graft survival. It is concluded that monitoring early graft function and clinical grades can be utilized in the assessment of new treatment protocols after relatively short transplant follow-up.