Renal function recovery in end-stage renal disease.

Renal function recovery (RFR) is a rare event in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Although some predictive factors have been described, there are still unresolved questions. We have analyzed the Canadian Organ Replacement Register data for the 1981 to 1989 period to assess the incidence and factors predictive of RFR in a large ESRD population as well as the outcome after recovery. Renal function recovery was defined as the interruption of renal replacement therapy (RRT) for more than 3 months. Patients on RRT for < or = 45 days were excluded. Of 14,318 registered ESRD patients, 342 (2.4%) experienced RFR after 8.9 +/- 0.5 months of RRT (mean +/- SEM); 52.3% of the recoveries occurred within 6 months of initiating RRT, while 23.7% were only observed after 12 months or more. By Cox regression, patients within the following diagnostic groups had a significantly higher rate of RFR than those with primary glomerulonephritis, who are considered to comprise the reference group: myeloma (relative rate [RR] = 6.00; P < 0.001), drug-induced disease (RR = 4.21; P < 0.001), vascular/hypertensive disease (RR = 2.60; P < 0.001), and systemic disease (RR = 2.58; P < 0.001). Inversely, patients with polycystic kidneys (RR = 0.06; P = 0.004) and diabetic patients (RR = 0.56; P = 0.024) had a lower rate of RFR than those with glomerulonephritis. Men younger than 45 years had a lower rate of RFR than older men and women of all ages (P < or = 0.001).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)