Postoperative weight gain during the first year after kidney, liver, heart, and lung transplant: a prospective study
Abstract
CONTEXT: Studies of all types of organ transplant recipients have suggested that weight gain, expressed as an increase in body mass index (BMI), after transplant is common. OBJECTIVES: To describe weight gain during the first year after transplant and to determine risk factors associated with weight gain with particular attention to type of transplant. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A prospective study of 502 consecutive organ transplant recipients (261 kidney, 73 liver, 29 heart, 139 lung) to identify patterns of BMI change. Measurements were made during regular outpatient clinical visits at 2, 6, and 12 months after transplant. Data were retrieved from patients' charts and correlated with maintenance corticosteroid doses. RESULTS: Overall, mean BMI (SD; range) was 23.9 (4.5; 13.6-44.1) at 2 months and increased to 25.4 (4.0; 13.0-42.2) by the end of the first postoperative year. BMI levels organized by World Health Organization categories showed a trend toward overweight/obesity in kidney (53.4%), liver (51.5%), heart (51.7%), and lung (33.1%) patients by 12 months after transplant. BMI changed significantly (P= .05) for all organ types and between all assessment points, except in kidney recipients. Maintenance corticosteroid doses were not a predictor of BMI at 12 months after transplant for most patients. CONCLUSIONS: Weight gain was common among patients undergoing kidney, liver, heart, and lung transplant; however, many showed BMI values close to normality at the end of the first year after transplant. In most cases, increased BMI levels were related to obesity before transplant and not to maintenance corticosteroid therapy.
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Kidney transplant recipients are susceptible to weight gain after transplantation.
“There is evidence that KTx recipients are susceptible to weight gain after transplantation (16, 17).”
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- Authors
- Kugler, C., Einhorn, I., Gottlieb, J., Warnecke, G., Schwarz, A., Barg-Hock, H., Bara, C., Haller, H., & Haverich, A.
- Affiliations
- Witten/Herdecke University (DE)
- Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany (CK, IE, JG, GW, AS, HB-H, CB, HH, AH), University of Witten, Witten, Germany (CK)
- Corresponding author
- Kugler, Christiane
- Venue
- Progress in Transplantation
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2015-03
- Volume
- 25
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 49-55
- ISSN
- 0905-9199 (ISSN-L)
- 1526-9248
- 2164-6708
- OpenAlex
- W2050673211
- Cited by
- 36
- References
- 27
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 3
- FWCI
- 4.36
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Progress in Transplantation (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- FreiDok plus (Universitätsbibliothek Freiburg) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Surgery › Transplantation: Methods and Outcomes
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Transplantation › Renal Transplantation Outcomes and Treatments
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
- Keywords
- postoperative weight gain, body mass index, organ transplant recipients, kidney transplantation, liver transplantation, heart transplantation, lung transplantation, obesity
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Prospective Studies, Risk Factors, Weight Gain, Body Mass Index, Heart Transplantation, Kidney Transplantation, Liver Transplantation, Lung Transplantation
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