Prevalence of Anemia among Iraqi Patients after Renal Transplantation

Abstract

Background: Although the issue of anemia after renal transplantation (RT) has received increasing attention lately, the data on the exact prevalence of post-transplantation anemia (PTA) in the Iraqi patients are limited.
Objective: In this study we sought to determine the prevalence of PTA among Iraqi patients and to correlate the renal allograft function measurements and the use of immunosuppressant with the prevalence of anemia.
Patients and Methods: One hundred and twelve (74 male, 38 female) kidney transplant recipients (KTR) attending the kidney transplant center at surgical specialties hospital were studied. All patients were on maintenance, combined immunosuppressive therapy. The renal function tests [blood urea, serum creatinine, and creatinine clearance] and the hematological tests [Hb, HTC, and white blood cell count (WBC)] were determined in all patients. Anemia was defined according to the genderspecific K/DOQI classification.
Results: In this study, we identified anemia (Hb < 12 g/dl in males and Hb < 11 g/dl in females) in 25% of the patients (28 out of 112).The anemic patients had a significantly higher mean blood urea and serum creatinine levels and lower mean creatinine clearance level than the non-anemic patients. Among the immunosuppressant drugs, patients on tacrolimus combined with mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) had significantly lower Hb and HTC compared with patients without such treatment.
Conclusion: Anemia is common in Iraqi patients after RT. The PTA is associated with impaired renal allograft function when compared with non-anemic RTR. Immunosuppressant including tacrolimus combined with MMF was correlated with decreased Hb and HTC concentrations.