title: One hundred six live kidney donors in a single German transplantation center: renal, physical, and psychological follow-up.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study was to analyze the psychological and physical status as well as renal outcomes of 106 live kidney donors between 1993 and 2003.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed general and nephrological examinations, including measurements of creatinine clearance (ClCr), proteinuria, and 24-hour blood pressure monitoring. We evaluated the psychological and general health situation using the standardized SF-36 questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We evaluated 69/106 (65%) live kidney donors at 5.3 ± 0.4 years after donation. The reason for the 37 drop-outs were unknown current address (n = 21), refusal of study participation (n = 14), and death due to accident and suicide (n = 2). In the 69 donors renal function was well preserved: serum creatinine 1.3 ± 0.0 mg/dL; ClCr 81 ± 2 mL/min; postdonation to predonation ClCr ratio 0.73 ± 0.02; and proteinuria 104 ± 11 mg/d. None of the donors experienced renal failure, although 36/69 (52%) patients have developed de novo hypertension. Compared with normotensive donors, the hypertensive subgroup was significantly older at the time of donation (50.7 ± 1.4 vs 46.4 ± 1.6 years; P = .010) and had a longer interval since donation (6.4 ± 0.2 vs 3.9 ± 0.1 years; P = .001). SF-36 questionnaire results in live kidney donors showed higher scores regarding physical (54.3 ± 0.8 vs 49.3 ± 0.1; P = .048) and psychological health (53.8 ± 0.6 vs 50.7 ± 0.1; P = .043) compared with the average German population.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our cohort of live kidney donors showed good renal outcomes and superior SF-36 scores in both physical and psychological health compared with the German population. The risk of de novo hypertension increased with age and time after donation. Blood pressure screening should be regularly performed especially in the long term after donation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University Clinic of Giessen and Marburg, Giessen, Germany. Stefan.Albertsmeyer@innere.med.uni-giessen.de
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Albertsmeyer
authors.forename: F C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Renner
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yildiz
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rainer
authors.forename: E K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Feuring
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kamali-Ernst
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ernst
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zinn
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rieke
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Padberg
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Weimer
mesh_terms: D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D016030:Kidney Transplantation; D019520:Living Donors / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D014019:Tissue Donors