Purpose: The introduction of tacrolimus (FK506) has increased the choice of immunosuppressive therapies in renal transplantation.
Methods: We retrospectively reviewed allograft patients who had been transplanted from Jan 1998 to May 2000 in FK506 group (n=57) and CsA group (n=300) to analyze renal graft outcomes and compared its effect with that of cyclosporin (CsA).
Results: There were significant differences in type of donor and HLA mismatches. Renal function in FK506 was similar to CsA group. FK506 group (n=57) was equivalent to CsA (n=300) group in biopsy-proven rejection and clinical rejection
including
biopsy-proven rejection, respectively (10.5%, 24.6% in FK506 group and 12.3%, 18.7% in CsA group). One year-graft survival of living donor did not show significant difference between two groups (FK506 vs. CsA: 94.44% vs. 96.75%, P=0.5557). The
incidence
of infection in FK506 (15.8%) group is similar to that in CsA (20%). But, death due to infectious complications was more prevalent in FK506 group (5.7%), compared with CsA group (0.7%).
Conclusion: In summary, many significant benefits are associated with FK506 immunosuppression in renal transplantation with increasing experience of FK506, the incidence of infectious complications can be reduced.
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