Graft outcomes of living donor renal transplantations in elderly recipients.
BACKGROUND
Despite the ever-lengthening renal transplant waiting lists, without more donors, living donors serve as a treatment option for patients on dialysis. In the past, patients of advanced age were not considered to be candidates for living donor renal transplantation. Therefore, this study sought to analyze whether older age affects the outcome of living donor renal transplantation.


METHODS
A total of 527 primary living donor renal transplantations were performed between January 1, 1995 and January 1, 2006. The subjects were divided into 2 subgroups based on patient age at the time of transplantation. The elder group included all recipients at least 60 years vs the control group of younger patients.


RESULTS
Significant differences were observed in readmission rate (elder group, 44%; young group, 31.33%; P = .031) and patient survival rate (P < .001). No significant difference was noted in graft survival rate (P = .201), acute rejection rate (elder group, 10.6%; young group, 13.3%; P = .7), serum creatinine level, or length of stay (elder group, 8.51 days; young group, 6.31 days; P = .083).


CONCLUSIONS
Our results confirm that elder patients may benefit from living donor renal transplantation.
Chuang
F P
FP
Glickman Urological Institute, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio 44195, USA.
Novick
A C
AC
Sun
G H
GH
Kleeman
M
M
Flechner
S
S
Krishnamurthi
V
V
Modlin
C
C
Shoskes
D
D
Goldfarb
D A
DA
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006085:Graft Survival; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology*; D019520:Living Donors; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents