The health of elderly living kidney donors after donation.

BACKGROUND: Elderly donors may have increased risks in the peri- and post-transplant period. We performed a retrospective study to determine the outcome of elderly living donors in our center. MATERIAL/METHODS: Analysis of our live-related transplant program from Mar 1976 to Mar 2005 revealed that 146 donors were older than 50 years (range 50 to 69 yr) at the time of transplantation. We attempted to contact all donors to determine long-term outcome regarding their remaining kidney but 78 (53.4%) of them responded and were subjected to assessment. Their data were compared to the age matched health tables of the Egyptian general populations. RESULTS: Most donors (85%) gave their kidneys to their offspring. Twenty four donors became hypertensive (30.8%) and nearly 62% received one drug only. Five donors were diabetics and 5 with arrhythmia. The mean serum creatinine at the follow up was 1.0+/-0.9 mg/dl. Five donors developed proteinuria, none of them with >2 gm/day. The rate of diabetes and hypertension was similar to the age matched general population. CONCLUSIONS: Donor nephrectomy has minimal adverse effects on overall health status. Our data underscore the need to develop prospective trials for long-term follow up of elderly kidney donors.