Fig 1.
Brief concept of the study hypothesis.
The function of the graft kidney includes the graft weight, which represents the nephron mass, and its functional capacity. The graft weight can be measured during transplantation. The volume is calculated using computed tomography. The functional capacity of the graft kidney can be estimated with regard to the metabolic demand of the donor and donor’s pre-transplant serum creatinine. Therefore, the post-transplant serum creatinine level of the recipient can be estimated by replacing the data from the donor’s metabolic demand with that of the recipient. Green check points represent data that can be measured. The post-transplant serum creatinine of the recipient is calculated based on pre-existing data. KT kidney transplantation, sCr serum creatinine.
Fig 2.
Flow diagram of patient inclusion from Samsung Medical Center and Seoul National University Hospital.
SMC Samsung Medical Center, SNUH Seoul National University Hospital, ACR Acute cellular rejection, AMR Antibody-mediated rejection, CNI Calcineurin inhibitor.
Table 1.
Comparisons of baseline characteristics and clinical courses of the patient groups.
Fig 3.
Box and whisker plots of mean post-transplant serum creatinine levels from each group.
SMC Samsung Medical Center, SNUH Seoul National University Hospital, OP Operation.
Table 2.
Multivariate linear regression model for predicting the log-transformed post-transplant serum creatinine of the recipient based on potential factors related to graft function.
Fig 4.
Internal validation of the multivariate linear model based on the cohort from Samsung Medical Center demonstrated using a Bland-Altman plot.
Only 10 patients (4.2%) fell outside of the 95% confidence interval of the prediction.
Fig 5.
External validation of the multivariate linear model based on the cohort from Seoul National University Hospital demonstrated using a Bland-Altman plot.
Only 9 patients (4.7%) fell outside of the 95% confidence interval of the prediction.
Fig 6.
Relationship between the predicted serum creatinine and the true serum creatinine of the study subjects at the time of protocol biopsy.