Late anemia in pediatric kidney transplant recipients: Prevalence and risk factors

Background: anemia is a frequent complication among pediatric transplant recipi- ents. however, limited published studies are currently available about anemia in these patients. objectives: we conducted a retrospective study to determine the prevalence and risk factors of late post-transplant anemia (pta) among pediatric kidney transplant pa- tients. patients and methods: a total of 78 kidney transplant patients . 18 years old were en- rolled. prevalence of late pta, beyond 1 year after transplantation, in children was eval- uated 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. results: 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 signifi- cant 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). conclusions: the prevalence of late pta in our children was lower than previously re- ported in literature from both adult and pediatric transplant patients.