Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30561729›Full record

Trial reportNephrology, dialysis, transplantation : official publication of the European Dialysis and Transplant Association - European Renal Association2019

The effect of maintaining high hemoglobin levels on long-term kidney function in kidney transplant recipients: a randomized controlled trial.

Makoto Tsujita, Tomoki Kosugi, Norihiko Goto, Kenta Futamura, Morikuni Nishihira, Manabu Okada, Takahisa Hiramitsu, Shunji Narumi, Kazuharu Uchida, Asami Takeda and 3 more

Open access · hybridAbstract readMulticenter StudyRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Nephrology, dialysis, transplantation : official publication of the European Dialysis and Transplant Association - European Renal Association, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
21citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
2.3field-weighted citation impact, top 11% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

21 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 43 citations in OpenAlex.

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  6. KDIGO 2026 Clinical Practice Guideline for Anemia in Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD): a commentary from the European Renal Best Practice (ERBP).Nephrology, dialysis, transplantation : official publication of the European Dialysis and Transplant Association - European Renal Association · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Makoto TsujitaDepartment of Transplant Nephrology and Surgery, Kidney Disease Center, Nagoya Daini Red Cross Hospital, Nagoya, Japan.
Tomoki KosugiDepartment of Nephrology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan.
Norihiko GotoDepartment of Transplant Nephrology and Surgery, Kidney Disease Center, Nagoya Daini Red Cross Hospital, Nagoya, Japan.
Kenta FutamuraDepartment of Transplant Nephrology and Surgery, Kidney Disease Center, Nagoya Daini Red Cross Hospital, Nagoya, Japan.
Morikuni NishihiraDepartment of Renal Transplantation, Masuko Memorial Hospital, Nagoya, Japan.
Manabu OkadaDepartment of Transplant Nephrology and Surgery, Kidney Disease Center, Nagoya Daini Red Cross Hospital, Nagoya, Japan.
Takahisa HiramitsuDepartment of Transplant Nephrology and Surgery, Kidney Disease Center, Nagoya Daini Red Cross Hospital, Nagoya, Japan.
Shunji NarumiDepartment of Transplant Nephrology and Surgery, Kidney Disease Center, Nagoya Daini Red Cross Hospital, Nagoya, Japan.
Kazuharu UchidaDepartment of Renal Transplantation, Masuko Memorial Hospital, Nagoya, Japan.
Asami TakedaDepartment of Nephrology, Kidney Disease Center, Nagoya Daini Red Cross Hospital, Nagoya, Japan.
Kunio MorozumiDepartment of Renal Transplantation, Masuko Memorial Hospital, Nagoya, Japan.
Shoichi MaruyamaDepartment of Nephrology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan.
Yoshihiko WataraiDepartment of Transplant Nephrology and Surgery, Kidney Disease Center, Nagoya Daini Red Cross Hospital, Nagoya, Japan.
Japanese Red Cross Nagoya Daini Hospital · JPNagoya Memorial Hospital · JPNagoya University · JP

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPosttransplant anemia may be a major determinant of chronic allograft nephropathy. However, the impact of correcting anemia on graft function remains controversial.

methodsA 3-year follow-up of an open-label, multicenter, randomized controlled trial involving kidney transplantation recipients examined whether sustained maintenance of target hemoglobin (Hb) concentrations at a high level (12.5-13.5 g/dL, n = 64) with either darbepoetin alfa or epoetin beta pegol would slow the graft function decline rate as the primary efficacy endpoint, compared with maintenance of a low Hb concentration (10.5-11.5 g/dL, n = 63).

resultsThe mean blood pressures in the two groups were well controlled throughout the study. In the high Hb group, mean Hb concentrations increased to >12 g/dL at 3 months, reaching the target range at 18 months. At the end of this study (36 months), the mean Hb concentration was 12.8 ± 0.7 g/dL in the high Hb group and 11.5 ± 1.2 g/dL in the low Hb group. The decline rate of the estimated glomerular filtration (eGFR) rate was considerably greater in the low Hb group (ΔeGFR, -5.1 ± 9.5 mL/min/1.73 m2) than in the high Hb group (-1.0 ± 8.4 mL/min/1.73 m2) (P = 0.02). Of note, only a few high Hb patients developed cardiovascular events and returned to hemodialysis, but the low Hb patients did not.

conclusionThis prospective study suggests that correcting anemia to the target Hb level range (12.5-13.5 g/dL) slows renal function deterioration by >3 years in the chronic phase of allograft nephropathy.

Indexed as

Kidney TransplantationAdultAllograftsAnemiaBlood PressureDisease ProgressionErythropoietinFemaleFollow-Up StudiesHematinicsHemoglobinsHumansKidneyKidney Failure, ChronicMaleMiddle AgedErythropoietinHematinicsHemoglobinscorrection of anemiaestimated glomerular filtration ratekidney transplant recipientsrandomized controlled trial

Identifiers

PMID30561729
PMCPMC6680099
OpenAlexW2949247066

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.