Abstract
Hypothermic machine perfusion (HMP) has been shown to reduce delayed graft function (DGF)-rates in kidneys from expanded criteria donors (ECD) and may increase graft survival compared with static cold storage (SCS). This single-center, retrospective observational study aimed to evaluate this effect. The primary endpoint was the DGF-rate, defined as the use of dialysis in the first postoperative week, excluding the first 24 h. The main secondary endpoint was graft survival at 5 years. Recipients of ECD-kidneys between 2013 and 2021 with ≤2 grafts were included (n = 438). The SCS-kidneys were marginal-matched by propensity score to the HMP-group for donor age, cold ischemia time, and graft number. Multivariable adjusted analysis for confounders in the unmatched cohort and caliper-based ID-matching constituted sensitivity analyses. HMP showed a trend to lower DGF-rate in the marginal-matched comparison (9.2% vs. 16.1%, p = 0.063). This was strengthened by a significant benefit observed for HMP in both the sensitivity analyses: an adjusted OR of 0.45 (95% CI: 0.24; 0.84; p = 0.012) in the multivariable analysis and DGF-rate of 8.7% vs. 17.4% (p = 0.024) after ID-matching. The 5-year graft survival rate was >90% in both groups, with no benefit using HMP (HR = 0.79; 95% CI:0.39-1.16; p = 0.52). Our results suggest that HMP may be effective in decreasing DGF-rates, however, without any significant benefit in graft survival.