The changes in
parathyroid hormone secretion after successful
renal transplantation remain to be clearly elucidated. Our study was aimed at identifying the predictors of
hyperparathyroidism in renal transplant recipients. A retrospective single center study involving 37 renal transplant recipients, with a follow-up of at least one year, was performed. All transplants were performed using kidneys from living related donors. The average age of the study patients was 30 +/- 10 years, with a male-female ratio of 1.31. The mean duration on
hemodialysis (HD) prior to
transplantation was 25 +/- 18 months. All the grafts but one, were functional after a mean follow-up of 41 +/- 21 months. We noted a rapid reduction of the mean
parathyroid hormone (iPTH) level from 383 +/- 265 pg/ml before
transplantation to 125 +/- 67 pg/ml at one year and 108 +/- 66 pg/ml at two years after
transplantation (p = 0.01). Bivariate analysis revealed that the level of iPTH obtained during follow-up correlated with the duration on HD (p = 0.03), the serum
creatinine at 24-months (p = 0.013), and to the level of iPTH in the first year post-
transplantation (p = < 0.001). Other clinical or laboratory parameters were not predictive of
hyperparathyroidism after
kidney transplantation. Linear regression showed that only the serum
creatinine at 24-months independently correlated with the level of iPTH at last follow-up (p = 0.02). Our study suggests that short duration on HD and a functional graft are the main predictors of correction of
hyperparathyroidism after
renal transplantation.