Recurrent glomerulonephritis following renal transplantation: an update

Abstract

Based on the literature, recurrent disease is observed in 4–20% of the patients receiving a kidney transplant and will lead to graft failure in 2–5% [1–6]. In a large study of the University of Wisconsin/USA that evaluated 1557 patients, followed for a mean of 7.3 years after transplantation, recurrence of the underlying disease was observed in 98 cases, i.e. 8% [7]. More than 75% of these cases were recurrent glomerulonephritides (GN) and the present discussion will therefore be limited to these disease entities. However, before going into detail, it should be realized that the above data need to be treated with great caution for a number of reasons.