Early high pulse pressure is associated with graft dysfunction and predicts poor kidney allograft survival.

Background: Pulse pressure (PP), which reflects the pulsatile component of the blood pressure (BP), is known as a major predictor of cardiovascular events and death. In the elderly and type 2 diabetic patients, PP is associated with low glomerular filtration rate and albuminuria. Because kidney allograft survival is closely related to BP levels, we investigated the impact of early high PP, systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial BP on kidney allograft survival.

Methods: Renal hemodynamic and function studies using isotopic methods were prospectively performed in 493 renal transplant patients at 3 months posttransplantation to determine the impact of the different BP components on allograft survival using a proportional hazard model.

Results: After a median follow-up of 6.3 years, 91 allografts were lost. High PP was associated with high systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial pressure, heart rate, recipient age, glycemia, and low glomerular filtration rate. Moreover, PP emerged as the strongest BP component influencing overall and death-censored kidney allograft survival.

Conclusion: High PP is an early marker of poor allograft outcome that could be corrected by therapeutic intervention.