Late Anemia In Pediatric Kidney Transplant Recipients: Prevalence And Risk Factors

Anemia is a frequent complication among pediatric transplant recipients. However, limited published studies are currently available about anemia in these patients. We conducted a retrospective study to determine the prevalence and risk factors of late post-transplant anemia (PTA) among pediatric kidney transplant patients.Patients and A total of 78 kidney transplant patients ≤ 18 years old were enrolled. Prevalence of late PTA, beyond 1 year after transplantation, in children was evaluated between 2008 and 2011. We considered anemia as hemoglobin concentration of ≤ 11 mg/dl and less than 10 mg/dl as a severe anemia. Both univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine the correlation of PTA with other risk factors such as renal allograft function and other laboratory parameters. The mean age of recipients was 10 ± 3 years (range: 3 to 18 years); 58% male and 42% female. The prevalence PTA in this survey was 15.4% (n = 12). The prevalence of late PTA was not different in both boys and girls (p = 0.38). At univariate analysis, a significant relationship was seen between serum creatinine concentrations and Hb levels (P = 0.005, r = 0.32) and there was also a significant relationship between serum Hb and cyclosporine trough blood level (p = 0.009, r = 0.29) and 2 hour post dose level of cyclosporine (p = 0.03, r = 0.29). At multivariate logistic regression after adjustment for other factors, however, renal allograft impairment was the only a risk factor for late PTA (P = 0.05, EXP (B) = 2.5; 95 % CI = 1.0- 6.3). The prevalence of late PTA in our children was lower than previously reported in literature from both adult and pediatric transplant patients.