The valid results of Meta-analysis on biomedical data, will have an important value to clinical practice and health policy making. To review the validity of meta-analysis results, one should consider the following issues: The coverage ratio of included studies, quality of data, publication bias and its effect, heterogeneity, the correct selection of statistical methods as well as clinical significance and external validity of overall effect size. The results of Meta-analysis will keep on updating as new related studies are located and included.
ObjectiveTo explore the effect of donation after citizen death (DCD) kidney transplantations performed in Sichuan.MethodsThe data of 97 cases of DCD kidney transplantations performed in West China Hospital of Sichuan University between January 2012 and March 2016 was retrospectively reviewed. The 53 donors were aged from 7 months to 54 years (with a median of 28 years, and lower quartile of 15 years and upper quartile of 45 years), including 40 males and 13 females; the causes of death included craniocerebral trauma in 21 cases, craniocerebral tumor in 12 cases, cerebrovascular accident in 15 cases, hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy in 4 cases, and hydrocephalus in 1 case. The 97 recipients were aged from 18 to 66 years (with a median of 39 years, and lower quartile of 30 years and upper quartile of 44 years), including 71 males and 26 females. The recipients were classified into C-Ⅰ (n=36) and C-Ⅲ (n=61) according to type of donation. The baseline and perioperative situation of the donors and recipients, and the postoperative kidney function, infection, recipient survival and kidney survival of the recipients were analyzed.ResultsAfter transplantation, none of primary graft nonfunction occurred but delayed graft function (DGF) occurred in 26 cases. There were no significant differences in creatinine level between C-Ⅰ and C-Ⅲ recipients at 1 week [(226.71±187.46) vs. (249.94±249.84) μmol/L, P=0.636], 1 month [(136.32±63.34) vs. (157.37±147.83) μmol/L, P=0.428], 3 months [(110.51±25.26) vs. (115.02±36.60) μmol/L, P=0.527] and 12 months [(103.42±21.57) vs. (104.18±39.36) μmol/L, P=0.911] after transplantation, as well as acute rejection [13.9% vs. 19.7%, P=0.469] and complications at early time after transplantation. There were no significant differences in 1-year recipient survival rate (91.7% vs. 93.4%) and 1-year kidney survival rate (100.0% vs. 91.8%) between C-Ⅰ and C-Ⅲ recipients.ConclusionDCD kidney transplantation has excellent short-term outcomes despite a high incidence of early DGF, and may represent another potential method to safely expand the donor pool.