The influence of recipient and donor age on the outcome of renal transplantation.

This paper assesses the impact of age on the outcome of cadaveric renal transplantation. Data are presented on 99 consecutive patients undergoing first renal allografts at one unit. Patients are divided into those aged less than 50 (n = 53), patients between 50 and 60 (n = 16), and those aged 60 years and over (n = 30). There was no significant difference in graft survival at one year between the three groups. There was however an increased mortality with increasing recipient age (1.9%, 12.5% and 20.0% respectively for each age group). The effect of increasing donor age on graft survival was also studied. Graft survival at two years for first grafts was not influenced by donor age. We conclude that age alone is not a criterion for exclusion of patients from transplant programs. In addition we provide data to support the use of elderly donors as a potential source of cadaveric renal grafts for certain patients.