Growth after pediatric kidney transplantation: a 25-year study in a pediatric kidney transplant center

Objectives Growth failure is one of the major complications of pediatric chronic kidney disease. Even after a kidney transplant (KT), up to 50 % of patients fail to achieve the expected final height. This study aimed to assess longitudinal growth after KT and identify factors influencing it. Methods A retrospective observational study was performed. We reviewed the clinical records of all patients who underwent KT for 25 years in a single center (n=149) and performed telephone interviews. Height-for-age and body mass index (BMI)-for-age were examined at KT, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, and 5 years post-transplant and at the transition to adult care. We evaluated target height, disease duration before KT, need and type of dialysis, recombinant human growth hormone pretransplant use, nutritional support, glomerular filtration rate (GFR), and cumulative corticosteroid dose. Results At transplant, the average height z-score was −1.38, and height z-scores showed catch-up growth at 6 months (z-score −1.26, p=0.006), 1 year (z-score −1.15, p<0.001), 5 years after KT (z-score −1.08, p<0.001), and on transition to adult care (z-score −1.22, p=0.012). Regarding BMI z-scores, a significant increase was also detected at all time points (p<0.001). After KT, GFR was significantly associated with height z-score (p=0.006) and BMI z-score (p=0.006). The height in transition to adult care was −1.28 SD compared to the target height. Conclusions Despite the encouraging results regarding catch-up growth after KT in this cohort, results remain far from optimum, with a lower-than-expected height at the time of transition.