Kidney donors and kidney transplantation in the elderly

The likelihood of terminal renal insufficiency escalates with age, increasing the risk of dying as a patient requiring dialysis. In 1999, Eurotransplant initiated the Eurotransplant Senior Programm (ESP), in which the kidneys of old donors (>64 years) are allocated to recipients 64 years and older. Allocation does not take HLA-matching into account and is performed regionally only according to blood-group-compatibility to keep the storage time short. As a consequence of the short ischemic time, and thus reduced non-immunological damage to the anyways susceptible old kidney, graft-function and graft-survival in the ESP are very good. The results of the initial 5 years of this program show that it successfully utilizes more kidneys from old donors and that more old recipients are being transplanted, with a satisfactory graft-function. Increased donor- and/or recipient age require a thorough evaluation to exclude malignant and other diseases. Furthermore, short term controls on the waiting list and following kidney transplantation are prerequisites for successful transplantation in the aged recipient. If this is guaranteed, kidney transplantation in the old recipient - even with old donor organs - is a good alternative to the morbidity of a prolonged dialysis. Nevertheless, the role of HLA-matching should be reconsidered to reduce rejections.