title: Outcomes in renal transplant recipients with lupus nephritis: experience at a single center.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The long-term prognosis of renal transplant recipients with systemic lupus erythematosus is still controversial. The outcome of these patients depends on the population studied, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic conditions, donor-related factors and recurrent lupus nephritis (LN), among other factors.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study was conducted to evaluate kidney transplantation outcomes for adult Brazilian patients with LN at a single center.
  
  
  METHODS
  The archival records of all patients with LN who had received a kidney transplant at Santa Casa of Sao Paulo Hospítal were reviewed. Kaplan-Meier method was used to determine the survival rate.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We identified 18 patients with LN subjected to 22 kidney transplants during the 20-year interval. Two patients received three renal grafts. The majority of the patients were female, with 33.7 ± 10 years at the time of the transplantation, and half of them were African descendants or mixed. Sixteen transplants were performed from deceased donors and six from living-related donors. The patient survival rate was 90%, and graft survival was 68% at 10 years. Chronic allograft nephropathy was the major cause of graft loss. Two patients developed extra-renal manifestations of lupus. There was no clinical or histological evidence of recurrent LN.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Renal transplantation is a method which can provide a long-term survival for patients with SLE and end-stage renal disease.
authors.affiliation: Santa Casa of Sao Paulo School of Medical Sciences , Sao Paulo, SP , Brazil.
authors.forename: Carolina Steller
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Malafronte
authors.forename: Daniela Priscila
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Demetrio
authors.forename: Jose Ferraz
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: de Souza
authors.forename: Yvoty Alves
authors.initials: YA
authors.lastname: Sens
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016030:Kidney Transplantation; D008181:Lupus Nephritis / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Lupus nephritis; outcome; renal transplantation; survival; systemic lupus erythematosus