Renal Transplantation in Recipients Older Than 65 Years: Retrospective Analysis of the Results of a 4-year (2008-2012) Experience.

Abstract Background We analyze the results of renal transplantation among recipients older than 65 years old over a 4-year period (2008–2012) from a single renal transplantation unit and compare results with younger recipients. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the outcomes of 2018 renal transplantations performed between November 2008 and December 2012. The χ 2 test was used for the comparison of categorical data, and the Student t test was used for the analysis of continuous variables. Patient and graft cumulative actuarial survivals were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier analysis and we tested for differences with the Mantel-Cox log-rank test. Results Seventy-five (3.7%) recipients were aged ≥65 years with a median age of 68 (range, 65 to 82) years. Actuarial graft survivals at 1, 2, and 3 years were 93.8%, 92.5%, and 90.3%, respectively, for the  P P P  = .213). Conclusions Our results showed that renal transplantation in selected patients older than 65 years was associated with good outcomes; this indicates that it seems safe and effective to treat end-stage renal disease in the elderly knowing there are acceptable rates of graft and patient survival.