PHILADELPHIA—Renal transplantation is a viable option even for end-stage renal disease patients in their 80s, according to study findings presented at the 2015 American Transplant Congress.

In a retrospective study, researchers at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore examined outcomes of 30 kidney transplant recipients in their 80s (mean age 83 years at the time of transplantation). Patient survival rates at 6 months and 1 and 3 years post-transplant were 86.2%, 84.6%, and 66.7%, respectively. The median follow-up time post-transplant was 2 years when censored for early death in the post-operative period. At the last follow-up, 24 patients (80%) had functioning grafts.

Of the 30 patients, 3 (10%) received a living donor kidney, 10 (33%) received a standard criteria donor kidney, 12 (40%) received an expanded criteria donor kidney, and 2 (7%) received a kidney from a donor who suffered a cardiac death.

“In carefully selected recipients, renal transplantation after the age of 80 remains a viable option,” the authors concluded.

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