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World J Transplant. Jun 18, 2026; 16(2): 115329
Published online Jun 18, 2026. doi: 10.5500/wjt.v16.i2.115329
Published online Jun 18, 2026. doi: 10.5500/wjt.v16.i2.115329
Long-term renal function and complication profiles after ABO-incompatible vs compatible living-donor kidney transplantation: A single-center experience
Beatriz Gil Braga, Ana Cunha, Manuela Almeida, Bruno Dias, José Silvano, Catarina Ribeiro, Sofia Pedroso, La Salete Martins, Department of Nephrology, Unidade Local de Saúde de Santo António, Porto 4099-001, Portugal
Manuela Almeida, Bruno Dias, José Silvano, Catarina Ribeiro, La Salete Martins, UMIB-Unit for Multidisciplinary Research in Biomedicine, ICBAS-School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Porto, Porto 4050-313, Portugal
Sofia Sousa, Department of Nephrology, Hospital Divino Espírito Santo, Ponta Delgada 9500-370, Azores, Portugal
Ana Filipa Trigo, Department of Nephrology, ULS Médio Tejo, Torres Novas 2304-909, Santarém, Portugal
António Inácio, Department of Nephrology, Unidade Local de Saúde da Arrábida, Setubal 2910-446, Portugal
Marco Sampaio, Marika Bini-Antunes, Department of Immunohemotherapy, Unidade Local de Saúde de Santo António, Porto 4099-001, Portugal
Author contributions: Almeida M and Braga BG designed the study, were responsible for developing the methodology participated in the formal analysis and investigation; Braga BG and Cunha A wrote the original draft; Sousa S, Trigo AF, Inácio A, Dias B, Silvano S, Ribeiro C, Pedroso S, Sampaio M, Bini-Antunes M and Martins LS participated in the review and editing.
Institutional review board statement: This study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Unidade Local de Saúde de Santo António, authorization No. 147-21 (119-DEFI/122-CE).
Informed consent statement: Given its retrospective design, use of de-identified data, and absence of any intervention, the ethics committee waived the requirement for individual informed consent.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: Due to patient confidentiality and institutional regulations, the data used in this study cannot be shared publicly.
Corresponding author: Beatriz Gil Braga, Department of Nephrology, Unidade Local de Saúde de Santo António, Largo do Prof. Abel Salazar, Porto 4099-001, Portugal.
Received: October 16, 2025
Revised: November 13, 2025
Accepted: January 13, 2026
Published online: June 18, 2026
Processing time: 227 Days and 10.5 Hours
Revised: November 13, 2025
Accepted: January 13, 2026
Published online: June 18, 2026
Processing time: 227 Days and 10.5 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This single-center cohort study compared long-term outcomes after ABO-incompatible (ABOi) and ABO-compatible (ABOc) living-donor kidney transplantation performed under current desensitization protocols. Despite the higher immunologic and pharmacologic load required for ABOi recipients, patient and graft survival, renal function trajectories, and complication rates were comparable between groups during a median follow-up of nearly five years. These findings support ABOi living-donor kidney transplantation as a safe and effective option when ABOc donors are unav