Similar Graft Survival for Recipients of Older Kidneys

Total graft survival during a four-year follow-up period is comparable for recipients of kidneys from older (age 60 years or older) donors, younger donors, or from deceased standard criteria donors, according to a study published online March 14 in the American Journal of Transplantation.

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FRIDAY, April 1 (HealthDay News) -- Total graft survival during a four-year follow-up period is comparable for recipients of kidneys from older (age 60 years or older) donors, younger donors, or from deceased standard criteria donors (SCDs), according to a study published online March 14 in the American Journal of Transplantation.

Anne Young, Ph.D., from the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada, and colleagues investigated the effect of the age of the kidney donor on recipient outcome between January 2000 and March 2008. Donors were classified as older living (60 years or older), younger living, or deceased SCD. Recipients received 73 kidneys from older living donors, 1,187 from younger living donors, and 1,400 SCD kidneys. The primary outcome measured was total graft loss. Survival analysis was assessed using medical records and electronic health care data during an average four-year follow-up period.

The investigators found that there was no significant difference in total graft loss between recipients of kidneys from younger and older living kidney donors (adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 1.56; P = 0.06). The HR increased with time but was not affected by recipient age or donor glomerular filtration rate. There was no significant difference in total graft loss between recipients of older living kidneys and SCD kidney recipients (adjusted HR, 1.28; P = 0.30).

"Using the results from this study, transplant professionals can inform their patients that graft survival from older living kidney donors is not inferior to receiving a kidney from a deceased SCD," the authors write.

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