Pancreas Donor Hypernatremia: Is it Really a Risk Factor for Simultaneous Pancreas-kidney Transplantation?

Introduction: Solid organ donor hypernatremia has been classically reported to be a risk factor for cell lysis and graft damage. National criteria for pancreatic donation consider severe hypernatremia (sodium level more than 160 mEq/L) to be relative exclusion criteria. The aim of our study is to review the postoperative outcomes of our simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantation (SPKT) sample in terms of pancreatic fistula, intra-abdominal abscesses, pancreatitis, pancreas graft thrombosis, early pancreatectomy, and reoperation rates regarding different ranges of donor sodium levels.
Material and Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis among 161 SPKTs performed in our center between the years 2001 and 2017. We compared the aforementioned postoperative variables in two situations: 1) Whether the donor pancreas sodium levels were inferior to 149 mEq/L, or equal to or greater than 150 mEq/L; and 2) If they had severe hypernatremia (considering sodium levels greater than or equal to 160 mEq/L as threshold) or not. To ensure the comparability of the groups, a second comparison was performed on new samples after using propensity score matching. A Student t test or Mann-Whitney U test was used for intergroup comparisons of quantitative variables where appropriate, whereas a χ ² test or Fisher's exact test was used to compare categorical data.
Results: No statistically significant differences were found between the groups that relate high donor serum sodium levels with the morbidity variables included in our study or with early pancreatic graft loss.
Conclusions: In our cohort, early postoperative main morbidity and pancreas graft loss of SPKT recipients do not differ significantly regarding donor serum sodium levels.
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