Pneumonia and in-hospital mortality after renal transplantation

Introduction/Objective. Pneumonias remain one of the most frequent reasons for morbidity and mortality in the group of kidney recipients. The objective of the study was to define the factors associated with a higher risk for in-hospital mortality from pneumonia after renal transplantations. Methods. A total of 124 patients with kidney transplants hospitalized with pneumonia for the period of nine years were studied. Different noninvasive and invasive diagnostic tests were used. Results. Forty-one of the patients died as a result of pneumonia or related complications during their hospital stay. The factors associated with the increased risk for in-hospital mortality were as follows: the development of pneumonia during the early postoperative period (during the first month after surgery) (HR = 2.027; p = 0.025) or between the first and sixth month after surgery (HR = 2.303; p = 0.026), dyspnoea (HR = 2.184; p = 0.007) and hypoxemia (HR = 2.261; p = 0.003). The presence of bilateral infiltrates (HR = 2.482; p = 0.001), failure of initial antibiotic therapy (HR = 3.548; p < 0.001), intubation and mechanical ventilation (HR = 4.635; p < 0.001) also increased the risk for the fatal outcome. Conclusion. Knowing the prognostic factors associated with the increased risk for in-hospital fatal outcome from pneumonia after renal transplantation makes it possible to differentiate the high-risk group of renal recipients who require early etiological diagnosis and strict control of the condition, in order to reduce the mortality from pulmonary infections in the group