Researchers in Germany report that the G20210A mutation in the prothrombin gene of a transplant recipient appears to significantly increase the risk of failure of a transplanted kidney.

Dr. Michael Fischereder of the Klinikum der Universität Regensburg, reporting in the American Journal of Kidney Diseases, compared kidney function in 270 consecutive patients who received 311 kidney transplants.

Fischereder said nine of the patients who had the G20210A mutation received a total of 12 kidney transplants.

Of the 12 transplants, two kidneys failed within a year and median survival of the transplanted kidney for these patients was 65.9 months.

This compared with median transplanted kidney survival of 149 months for patients who did not have the G20210A mutation. In contrast, only one of the nine patients with the mutation had a kidney transplant survive beyond 101 months.

"The G20210A mutation of the prothrombin gene is an independent risk factor for graft failure," Fischereder concluded.