Cardiac Dysfunction After Renal Transplantation; Incomplete Resolution in Pediatric Population

Long-term data of cardiac function after renal transplantation (RT) are limited, especially in children. Thus, we evaluated the status of left ventricular hypertrophy and various indices of left ventricular (LV) function in pediatric RT patients. Blood pressure, serum biochemical profiles, electrocardiogram, and echocardiogram of 32 pediatric patients (mean age, 15.5+/-4.4 years) who underwent RT 5.1+/-2.5 years before and 29 body surface area-matched control subjects were studied. Repolarization abnormalities shown on electrocardiogram of pre-RT patients improved significantly after RT (QTc dispersion 50.8+/-37.3 to 37.4+/-11.9 msec, P=0.009). Left ventricular hypertrophy with increased LV mass index of pre-RT patients regressed remarkably after RT (LV mass index 120.9+/-40.5 to 69.2+/-14.5 g/m2, P