Contrast Administration to the Deceased Kidney Donor Has No Impact on Post-Transplant Outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Contrast-induced acute kidney injury may occur in patients undergoing imaging studies. This study reviews all deceased kidney donors at a single center during a 15-y period to determine if donor contrast exposure results in contrast-induced acute kidney injury in the donor or is associated with worse outcomes in the transplant recipient. METHODS: Donor and recipient renal functions were recorded, including donor serum creatinine and recipient delayed graft function, creatinine clearance at 1 y, and early and late graft survival. Donor contrast exposure was recorded as the number of preprocurement contrasted studies. RESULTS: Donor and recipient records were available for 1394 transplants (88%). There were 51% of donors who received any contrasted study (38%, one study; 12%, two studies, and 1%, three studies). Donor contrast exposure was not associated with significant differences in preprocurement serum creatinine levels. Post-transplant, donor contrast exposure was associated with risk of neither delayed graft function (4% for all) nor early kidney graft loss. Creatinine clearance at 1 y was equivalent. Five-year Cox regression demonstrated higher graft survival for contrast-exposed grafts (P = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: There is no negative effect of donor contrast administration on early and late kidney graft function. These findings included donor kidneys exposed to as many as three contrasted studies.