No Increased Risk for Type 2 Diabetes, Hypertension in Living Kidney Donors

HealthDay News — Living kidney donors have no increased risks for all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, or adverse psychological health outcomes, according to a review published online in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Linda M. O’Keeffe, PhD, from the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom, and colleagues reviewed the evidence about mid- and long-term health risks associated with living kidney donation in adults. Data were included from 52 studies, with 118,426 living kidney donors and 117,656 non-donors followed for an average of 1 to 24 years.

The researchers found that there was no evidence for increased risk of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, or adverse psychosocial health outcomes for living kidney donors vs non-donor populations.

Higher diastolic blood pressure, lower estimated glomerular filtration rates, and higher risk for end-stage renal disease (relative risk, 8.83) were reported for donors, as was increased preeclampsia risk for female donors (relative risk, 2.12).

However, donors had low absolute risk for end-stage renal disease (incidence rate, 0.5 per 1000 person-years) and preeclampsia (incidence rate, 5.9 events per 100 pregnancies) despite the increased relative risks.

“Compared with non-donor populations, living kidney donors have no increased risk for other major chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, or for adverse psychosocial outcomes,” the authors write.

Reference

O’Keeffe LM, Ramond A, Oliver-Williams C, et al. Mid- and long-term health risks in living kidney donors: a systematic review and meta-analysis [published online January 30, 2018]. Ann Intern Med. doi: 10.7326/M17-1235