title: Utilization of elderly kidney donors (>70 years) does not affect graft survival in the medium term.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The need for organs for renal transplantation has encouraged the use of grafts from increasingly older donors. Earlier studies performed in Spain have shown the suitability of donors aged 60-65 years. In this single-center study, we evaluated our results using donors >70 years old.
  
  
  METHODS
  We evaluated 401 primary transplantations performed from January 2000 to December 2009. Their initial immunosuppression was a tacrolimus-based (n = 324), cyclosporine-based (n = 70) or calcineurin inhibitor-free (n = 7) regimen patients. Recipients were classified according to the donors age: <50 (42.6%); 50-70 (39.7%) and >70 (17.5%) years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no differences in recipient or donor gender, time on dialysis, cold ischemia, delayed graft function, or acute rejection episodes. However, the mean age was higher among patients who received grafts from donors >70 years old; 42.5 ± 12.4 years for <50, 58.1 ± 8.2 years for 50-70, and 65.7 ± 7.2 years for >70; (P = .000). The serum creatinine at 12 months was increased according to the age of the donor; 1.4 ± 0.6, 1.8 ± 0.6, 70 and 1.7 ± 0.5 mg/dL, respectively (P = .001). The graft survival rates at 5 years were 81%, 74%, and 70%, respectively (P = .519). Upon multivariate analysis only HLA-DR mismatches, delayed graft function, and acute rejection episodes were associated with graft loss. Patient survival rates (86%) at 5 years were similar among recipients from donors aged 50-70 and >70 years, but higher (96%) for those who received a graft from a donor <50 years (P = .003).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Nearly 20% of donors were >70 years old in our study. Their kidneys displayed excellent short-term outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Nephrology Department, Hospital Ramón y Cajal, Madrid, Spain. cgaleanoalvarez@gmail.com
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Galeano
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Marcén
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jimenez
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fernández Rodríguez
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sosa
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Villafruela
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Teruel
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Burgos
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Quereda
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D003404:Creatinine / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006084:Graft Rejection; D006085:Graft Survival; D006801:Humans; D016030:Kidney Transplantation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014019:Tissue Donors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D003404:Creatinine