title: Long-term safety of living kidney donors aged 60 and older.
abstract: In Japan, kidney transplantation procedures are usually dependent upon live donors. As the recipient ages have been increasing, so has there been a corollary increase in the age of the live donors. Despite this being controversial, the use of older donors is becoming increasingly common. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the long-term safety of accepting older living kidney donors and graft survival rates. We retrospectively analyzed long-term donor outcomes for consecutive patients at our institution between January 1990 and December 2011. Older live kidney donors were defined as ≥ 60 years and younger live kidney donors were defined as <60 years old. Thirty-three were ≥ 60 years and 55 donors were <60 years. The mean follow-up term was 7 years and 4 months. Predonation, older donors had a lower estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) level (77.1 ± 9.5 mL/min/1.73 m(2)) than younger donors (85.8 ± 14.6 mL/min/1.73 m(2); P < .01). More older donors had a history of hypertension (42.4% vs 9.1%; P < .01). In both groups, eGFR levels decreased about 40% immediately after nephrectomy. Residual renal function though was stable on long-term follow-up. The incidence of de novo hypertension and proteinuria after nephrectomy was not different between the 2 groups. In older donors, there were no perioperative complications that required extended hospital stays. Graft survival over a period of 10 years was similar in both groups. In our study, donor age had no influence on the deterioration of renal function after nephrectomy. Regardless of age, careful evaluation and follow-up are important for the donor's long-term safety after donation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Japanese Red Cross Kumamoto Hospital, Kumamoto City, Japan. Electronic address: tmariko@kumamoto-med.jrc.or.jp.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Toyoda
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Japanese Red Cross Kumamoto Hospital, Kumamoto City, Japan.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamanaga
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Japanese Red Cross Kumamoto Hospital, Kumamoto City, Japan.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kawabata
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Japanese Red Cross Kumamoto Hospital, Kumamoto City, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hidaka
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Japanese Red Cross Kumamoto Hospital, Kumamoto City, Japan.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Inadome
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Japanese Red Cross Kumamoto Hospital, Kumamoto City, Japan.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Arakane
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Japanese Red Cross Kumamoto Hospital, Kumamoto City, Japan.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Uekihara
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency, Japanese Red Cross Kumamoto Hospital, Kumamoto City, Japan.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Seishi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005919:Glomerular Filtration Rate; D006801:Humans; D016030:Kidney Transplantation; D019520:Living Donors; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D061214:Patient Safety