Outcome of renal transplantation in patients over the age of 60: a case-control study

The outcome of kidney transplantation in 70 consecutive patients aged 60 years or more was compared to that of matched contemporary controls aged 18-54 years. Although the elderly patients were a positive selection from a much larger population in dialysis their first-year mortality was significantly increased (8 versus one of the controls, P = 0.016). Morbidity in bronchopneumonia was also increased (11 versus 2, P = 0.009). In the group of elderly patients six grafts were lost due to the death of the patient. Neither the rate of irreversible rejection nor the need for extra antirejection therapy differed between the groups. The increased mortality and morbidity suggest that the selection had not been too restricted. Thus kidney transplantation should only be offered to a minority of elderly uraemic patients.