The effect of pre-existing ischaemic heart disease on renal dysfunction in cardiac transplant recipients.

Renal dysfunction is a recognized complication of cardiac transplantation and can impact on the life expectancy of an already fragile population. A large proportion of these patients require transplantation because of the consequences of ischaemic heart disease (IHD) which, in turn, is often associated with ischaemic nephropathy. We studied the effect of IHD, diagnosed prior to transplantation, on the renal function of recipients who survived more than 6months after surgery.