Background: Graft volume as a surrogate of nephron numbers correlates with allograft function. The primary aim of this study was to correlate renal volume determined by ultrasound, adjusted to recipient clinical parameters in order to determine post-transplant renal function at the end of the first year.
Materials and methods: A total of 140 patients were enrolled in this study, including 75 males, with a total mean age of 41.2 ± 13.5 years. Clinical data of all donors and recipients undergoing kidney transplantation at our institution between 2003 and 2019 were reviewed. The volume of transplanted kidney was measured by ultrasonography on the fifth day after the operation and correlated with recipients' clinical parameters and then adjusted with first-month and first-year post-transplantation creatinine clearance.
Results: The mean allograft volume measured using ultrasonography was 175.0 ± 37.2 mL. Absolute donor kidney volume had a non-significant correlation with creatinine clearance at 1 month and at 1 year after transplantation. The kidney volume/recipient body weight ratio had a positive, and significant, correlation with creatinine clearance at 1 month and at 1 year after transplantation (r = 0.326, p < 0.001, and r = 0.183, p = 0.038, respectively).
Conclusion: Our data demonstrated that 12-month creatinine clearance is influenced by ratio of donated kidney volume/recipient body weight.