Impact of donor age on the outcome of graft after kidney transplantation

ABSTRACT

Ninety patients who had received kidneys from living relative donors were studied to define the effect of age of the transplanted graft on the outcome of renal transplantation. All patients were subjected to a variety of investigations concerned with evaluation of the graft outcome over extended period of time. Moreover, a composite analysis of functional renal reserve was carried out, based on estimates of maximum glomerular filtration rates obtained after infusion of dopamine and amino acids. Analysis of data showed that the graft function was superior in recipients of kidneys from donors below the age of 40 years compared to those above 50 years at all the studied time points. The frequency of acute rejection episodes increased parallel with age of the graft at the time of transplantation. Also, the frequency of post-transplant proteinuria was significantly higher among recipients of the aged grafts compared to others. From this study, it has been concluded that the transplant age of the renal grafts has significant direct bearing on its performance; both is short and medium term follow up