A Report of Utilization of Antithymocyte Globulin Among Renal Transplant Patients in Iran

Background. Induction therapy with lymphocyte-depleting polyclonal anti-body (ATG) that inhibits T cell response is widely used and has been recommended as a part of initial immunosuppressive regimen in kidney transplantation. In this study we evaluated the current situation of ATG administration in 4 referral kidney transplant centers in Iran. Methodas and Materials. This retrospective, chart review study was done to evaluate the indication and dosage of ATG administration in renal recipients in 4 hospitals in Tehran. The inclusion criteria was all renal recipients who were transplanted between 20 March 2008 up to 20 March 2013 and kidney recepients less than 18 years or having missing data or incompleted data were excluded. Demographic data, living or cadaveric donation, primary cause of end-stage renal disease, pretransplant time on dialysis, first or subsequent graft, duration of patients’ hospitalization, immunosuppressive regimens (induction and maintenance), total dose, reason for decrease or discontinuation of anti thymocyte antibody, adverse events and complications were extracted from binders of those patients who had received ATG for any reason. Results. We examined 1,787 renal recipients while eligible patients were 1,621 and out of which 616 ( 38%) received ATG. Majority of patients (92.37%) have received ATG as induction therapy with average dose of 50mg on day 1,2,3 after transplant. In almost all nursing reports , this sentence was noted: the patient received ATG without any serious effects. Conclusion. ATG was used safely in 616 renal recipient among 1,621 eligible patients and the most reason of prescription was induction therapy.