Use of older patients as cadaveric kidney donors

We have no fixed upper age limit for cadaveric kidney donors and donors over the age of 50 provided kidneys for 22 per cent of our adult transplant recipients between 1983 and 1986. Immediate function following transplantation occurred in 17 per cent of these kidneys compared with 58 per cent for kidneys from donors under the age of 50. The 1-year actuarial graft survival rate for transplants from donors over 50 was 52 per cent, compared with 70 per cent for transplants from donors under 50 (P less than 0.05). Thus kidneys from older donors make an important contribution to the total pool of organs available for transplantation, but their use leads to inferior results in comparison with kidneys from younger donors.