Elderly living donor kidney transplantation allows worthwhile outcomes: The Japan Academic Consortium of Kidney Transplantation study.

Objective: To compare transplant outcomes among elderly (aged ≥60 years) and non-elderly recipients, and to evaluate the acceptability of elderly living donor kidney transplantation in practice after consideration of living donor type.
Methods: We included 830 adult patients with living donor kidney transplantation between 2000 and 2011 in this retrospective cohort study. We compared death-censored graft survival, patient survival, biopsy-proven rejection, complications, and renal function in elderly (n = 119) and non-elderly recipients (n = 278).
Results: There was no significant difference in 10-year death-censored graft survival (P = 0.980). Corresponding patient survival rates in the elderly and non-elderly groups were 84.1% and 98.1%, respectively (hazard ratio 6.15, 95% confidence interval 2.12-17.82, P < 0.001). Elderly patients had more complications and chronic T-cell-mediated rejection. Factors associated with death in elderly recipients with functioning grafts were residual advanced recipient age (hazard ratio 1.39), decreased hemoglobin (hazard ratio 4.10), hepatitis B virus (hazard ratio 7.89), hepatitis C virus (hazard ratio 13.12) and elevated alanine aminotransferase (hazard ratio 1.13).
Conclusions: Elderly living donor kidney transplantation seems to provide adequate acceptable outcomes. However, physicians should be cautious when evaluating elderly patients with hepatitis, and further studies are required to improve long-term outcomes.
(© 2017 The Japanese Urological Association.)