Table 1.
Frequency, timing of acute rejection episodes, and response to antirejection treatment*
| Negative (n=515) | Indeterminate (n=98) | Transient (n=57) | Sustained (n=230) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Episodes per patient | 0.33 | 0.48 | 0.43 | 0.62 |
| Rejection episode count** | ||||
| None | 392 (76.1%) | 71 (72.4%) | 40 (70.2%) | 159 (69.1%) |
| Once | 84 (16.3%) | 13 (13.3%) | 12 (21.0%) | 28 (12.2%) |
| Twice | 31 (6.0%) | 9 (9.2%) | 2 (3.5%) | 23 (10.0%) |
| 3 times | 8 (1.6%) | 4 (4.1%) | 3 (5.3%) | 13 (5.7%) |
| 4 times | 0 (0.0%) | 1 (1.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 6 (2.6%) |
| 5 times | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 1 (0.4%) |
|
| ||||
| Timing of rejection episodes after transplantation | ||||
| <6 mo | 24 (14.1%) | 4 (8.5%) | 6 (24.0%) | 26 (18.3%) |
| 6 mo–1 yr | 39 (22.9%) | 8 (17.0%) | 5 (20.0%) | 22 (15.5%) |
| 1 – 2 yr | 55 (32.4%) | 15 (31.9%) | 6 (24.0%) | 32 (22.5%) |
| >2 yr | 52 (30.6%) | 20 (42.6%) | 8 (32.0%) | 62 (43.7%) |
| Total episodes | 170 (100%) | 47 (100%) | 25 (100%) | 142 (100%) |
|
| ||||
| Number of rejection episodes treated with bolus methylprednisolone | ||||
| 163/170 (95.9%) | 41/47 (87.2%) | 23/25 (92.0%) | 127/142 (89.4%) | |
| Response to treatment | ||||
| CR*** | 85 (52.2%) | 17 (41.5%) | 11 (47.8%) | 44 (34.7%) |
| PR*** | 46 (28.2%) | 13 (31.7%) | 8 (34.8%) | 37 (29.1%) |
| NR | 32 (19.6%) | 11 (26.8%) | 4 (17.4%) | 46 (36.2%) |
CR; complete response, PR; partial response, NR; non-response.
Including bolus mPSL with or without intravenous immunoglobulin, thymoglobulin and adding of MMF.
Episode counts samong 4 temporal categories were compared with Kruskal-Wallis test (p=0.05). Comparison in each two groups by Mann-Whitney U test revealed the significant difference only between sustained and negative groups (p=0.006, significant p<0.05 with Bonferroni correction).
Application of the chi square test to this 3 × 4 contingency table resulted in an overall p-value = 0.03. On further subanalysis, the frequency of complete response (52.2%) and any response (80.4%) was higher in the BKV negative group compared to the rate of complete response (34.7%) and any response ( 63.8%) in the sustained viruria group ( p= 0.003, and p=0.002 respectively, significant p<0.05 with Bonferroni correction).