Table 1.
Patient characteristics.
| Group RLP (n = 12) |
Group BLP (n = 11) |
Group BHP (n = 11) |
p | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First/repeat transplantation | 8/4 | 7/4 | 11/0 | n.s. |
| Donor age | 52.4 ± 13.8 | 42.3 ± 14.9 | 52.1 ± 15.2 | n.s. |
| Living/deceased donor | 5/7 | 5/6 | 7/4 | n.s. |
| Interval between transplantation and diagnosis (months) | 34.6 ± 56.9 | 58.1 ± 51.4 | 46.1 ± 44.7 | n.s. |
| Early/late antibody-mediated rejection | 6/6 | 2/9 | 2/9 | n.s. |
| Pathology scoring | ||||
| Glomerulitis (g) | 0.8 ± 1.1 | 0.9 ± 1.0 | 1.6 ± 1.2 | n.s. |
| Peritubular capillaritis (ptc) | 1.1 ± 1.1 | 0.8 ± 1.1 | 1.5 ± 1.0 | n.s. |
| Intimal arteritis (v) | 0.7 ± 0.9 | 0.3 ± 0.6 | 0.5 ± 0.7 | n.s. |
| Transplant glomerulopathy (cg) | 1.1 ± 1.2 | 2.2 ± 1.3 | 0.8 ± 1.3 | 0.049 (BLP versus BHP) |
| C4d (immunohistochemistry) | 1.4 ± 1.3 | 2.0 ± 1.1 | 1.3 ± 1.3 | n.s. |
| IVIG dose (g) | 30 | 30 | 120 (80–150) | <0.001 (BHP versus RLP and BHP versus BLP) |
| Maintenance immunosuppression after diagnosis | ||||
| Steroids | 12 | 11 | 11 | n.s. |
| Cyclosporine A | 0 | 3 | 1 | n.s. |
| Tacrolimus | 12 | 6 | 10 | 0.01 (RLP versus BLP) |
| Everolimus | 0 | 2 | 0 | n.s. |
| Mycophenolic acid | 12 | 11 | 11 | n.s. |
| Median observation time after treatment (months) | 101 (39–137) | 88 (73–90) | 64 (55–71) | <0.001 (BHP versus RLP); 0.015 (BHP versus BLP) |
Group RLP, rituximab + low-dose IVIG + plasmapheresis; group BLP, bortezomib + low-dose IVIG + plasmapheresis; group BHP, bortezomib + high-dose IVIG + plasmapheresis. IVIG, intravenous immunoglobulin. Comparison between groups was carried out using Fisher's exact test for categorical variables and Kruskal-Wallis test with Dunn-Bonferroni post hoc test for continuous variables.