RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Kidney function, cardiovascular outcomes and survival of living kidney donors with hypertension: a systematic review protocol JF BMJ Open JO BMJ Open FD British Medical Journal Publishing Group SP e064132 DO 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-064132 VO 12 IS 12 A1 Ann Bugeja A1 Mariam Eldaba A1 Sumaiya Ahmed A1 Risa Shorr A1 Edward G Clark A1 Kevin D Burns A1 Greg Knoll A1 Swapnil Hiremath YR 2022 UL http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/12/12/e064132.abstract AB Introduction Hypertension has been considered a contraindication for living kidney donation in the past. Since transplantation from living kidney donors remains the best modality for kidney failure, there is now an increased acceptance of living kidney donors with hypertension. However, the safety of this practice for the cardiovascular and kidney health of the donor is unclear. We will conduct a systematic review to summarise and synthesise the existing literature on this topic.Methods and analysis A systematic review of prospective randomised and non-randomised and retrospective studies will be conducted. MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane CENTRAL and EBM reviews published from January 1946 to December 2021 will be reviewed. Primary outcome will be the difference in the survival, major adverse cardiovascular events, estimated glomerular filtration rate of 45 mL/min or less and development of end-stage kidney failure, between living kidney donors with and without hypertension. Study screening, selection, and data extraction will be performed by two independent reviewers. Studies must fulfil all eligibility criteria for inclusion into the systematic review and meta-analysis. The Risk of Bias in Non-Randomised studies tool will be used to assess bias.Ethics and dissemination No ethical approval is required for this systematic review. The results of this review will be disseminated in a peer-reviewed, open-access journal to ensure access to all stakeholders in kidney transplantation and to inform clinical guidelines on the evaluation and follow-up care of living kidney donor candidates.PROSPERO registration number CRD42022300119.