Geriatric issues in renal transplantation

There are an increasing amount of data which are compelling us to consider the issue of age in dealing with decisions regarding both renal transplant recipients and donors. These geriatric issues in transplantation can be summarized as follows: (1) The explosion of a geriatric population of patients with ESRD, in association with data showing a survival advantage of transplantation over wait-listed dialysis patients, demands an increase in expertise in transplantating patients over 60 years old. (2) The critical shortage in cadaveric organ supply is creating a variety of solutions including expanding the donor pool with older kidneys in which long term survival may be shorter than in kidneys from younger donors. (3) The donor shortage, in association with data demonstrating improved survival of living related and unrelated donor transplants, is generating an increased number of older (> 60 years old) individuals who want to donate to a relative, spouse or friend. Future efforts should be directed toward continued research designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of these trends. We also need to provide improved training in geriatrics for nephrologists so that we and transplant surgeons can deliver better medical care to an aging population of patients with ESRD.