The purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate results of non-heart-beating donor (NHBD) kidney transplantation. Between Jan 1986 and Dec 1994, 80 out of 582 cadaveric kidneys were harvested from NHBD (31.9 min +/- 24 after cardiac arrest). The results in the NHBD group (76 recipients) were compared with those obtained after transplantation of kidneys harvested from heart-beating donors (HBD) with respect to early graft function, and the graft and recipient's survival. Both groups were matched for sex, age, PRA level, number of HLA mismatches, and cold ischemia time. Triple immunosuppression therapy was used in both groups. Acute tubular necrosis (ATN) was observed significantly more frequently in the NHBD group (50 of 76 recipients vs 33 of 100 in the HBD group). The striking finding of this study was that the occurrence of primary non-function was the same in both groups and that the main cause of it was acute rejection. The 1-year patient and graft survival rates were 98.7% and 81.6% for the NHBD group and 99% and 90% for the HBD group, respectively. There was also no statistical difference in the serum creatinine concentration in both groups. We concluded that despite an increased incidence of ATN in the NHBD kidney recipients, the long-term results are good and comparable with those in the HBD group.