How great is the survival advantage of transplantation over dialysis in elderly patients?
BACKGROUND
Patients >60 years old represent 66% of all new patients starting renal replacement therapy in Scotland. The aim of this study was to investigate whether or not transplantation provides any survival benefit in this group of patients.


METHODS
325 patients >60 years old listed for transplantation in Scotland between 1 January 1989 and 31 December 1999 were followed up until 31 December 2000. Sociodemographic, comorbidity, listing and transplant data were obtained from the national renal and transplant databases and case-notes review. Survival was compared between those who received a transplant and those who were listed but did not receive a transplant by the end of the follow-up period. Mann-Whitney, chi(2), Fisher's exact and log-rank tests were used where appropriate.


RESULTS
Of the 325 patients listed, 128 (39.4%) received a first transplant within the study period and the remaining 197 (60.6%) continued to undergo dialysis. The transplant recipients were younger at listing (P<0.0001), lived closer to the transplant centre (P = 0.043) and spent less time on the active waiting list (P<0.0001) than patients who remained on dialysis. They had less ischaemic heart disease (P = 0.024), cerebrovascular disease (P = 0.03) and arrhythmias (P = 0.016). The overall mortality rate was 0.16 per patient-year for dialysis and 0.10 for transplantation. There was a significantly lower risk of death (RR = 0.35, 95% CI 0.22--0.54; P<0.0001, log-rank) and a longer life expectancy after listing with a transplant (8.17 vs 4.32 years).


CONCLUSIONS
Renal transplantation offers a significant survival advantage over dialysis in elderly patients with end-stage renal failure who are considered suitable for transplantation.
Oniscu
Gabriel C
GC
The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, 1 Lauriston Place, Edinburgh EH3 9YW, UK.
Brown
Helen
H
Forsythe
John L R
JL
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000401:mortality*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D006435:Renal Dialysis / Q000401:mortality*; D015996:Survival Rate