Impact of Steroid Only Induction on Rejection in Simultaneous Liver-Kidney Transplantation.

The occurrence of simultaneous liver kidney transplantation has greatly increased; however, the ideal induction and maintenance immunosuppression remains unknown. This evaluation aimed to determine if corticosteroid only induction in simultaneous liver kidney transplant recipients provided adequate prophylaxis against rejection when compared to basiliximab. This was a single center, retrospective, cohort study of adult simultaneous liver kidney transplant recipients from June 2010 to June 2019 receiving corticosteroid only (N = 41) or basiliximab (N = 42) induction. Liver or kidney biopsy proven acute rejection at 3 months was comparable between the corticosteroid only and basiliximab groups (10% vs 7%,  = .67), which persisted through 12 months posttransplant (15% vs 21%,  = .42). The occurrence of any infection at 3 months was increased in the corticosteroid only group relative to the basiliximab group (41% vs 21%,  = .049). Graft and patient survival at 12 months were similar between groups. Maintenance immunosuppression was overall minimized with a tacrolimus goal of 6-8 ng/mL, mycophenolate mofetil dose reduction to 1000 mg/day by 3 months, and early steroid withdrawal in both groups. Our findings suggested that corticosteroid only induction was an effective strategy for preventing rejection in simultaneous liver kidney transplant recipients, even in combination with reduced maintenance immunosuppression.