title: Transplantation in the elderly patient.
abstract: During the last 2 decades, the number of kidney transplants performed in the candidates older than 65 years has grown dramatically. For selected geriatric patients with end-stage kidney failure, kidney transplantation has emerged as a potential option for treatment of their end organ failure. Aging is associated with functional changes to the immune system known as immunosenescence, and this age-related decline in immune function has important implications for immunosuppression in this subgroup of kidney transplant recipients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, University of Virginia Medical Center, Charlottesville, VA 22908-0133, USA. dsk9s@virginia.edu
authors.forename: Douglas Scott
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Keith
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D007107:Immune System; D007165:Immunosuppression Therapy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods; D007677:Kidney Function Tests; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D063305:Organ Dysfunction Scores; D063868:Patient Outcome Assessment; D018579:Patient Selection; D051436:Renal Insufficiency, Chronic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery; D018570:Risk Assessment; D016019:Survival Analysis
keywords: Elderly; Immunosenescence; Immunosuppression; Kidney transplantation; Selection; Survival