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Previous Volume 354:343-352 January 26, 2006 Number 4 Next

	Full Text PDF PDA Full Text PowerPoint Slide Set Editorial by Delmonico, F. L. Letters Add to Personal Archive Add to Citation Manager Notify a Friend E-mail When Cited E-mail When Letters Appear PubMed Citation

ABSTRACT

Background Long-term survival of kidney grafts from older donors is inferior to that of grafts from younger donors. We sought to determine whether selecting older kidneys according to their histologic characteristics before implantation would positively influence long-term outcome.

Methods In a prospective cohort study, we assessed outcomes among 62 patients who received one or two histologically evaluated kidneys from donors older than 60 years of age. These outcomes were compared with outcomes among 248 matched recipients of single kidney grafts that had not been histologically evaluated and were either from donors 60 years of age or younger (124 positive-reference recipients who, according to available data, were expected to have an optimal outcome) or from those older than 60 years (124 negative-reference recipients, expected to have a worse outcome). The primary end point was graft survival.

Results During a median period of 23 months, 4 recipients (6 percent) of histologically evaluated kidneys progressed to dialysis, as compared with 7 positive-reference recipients (6 percent) and 29 negative-reference recipients (23 percent). Graft survival in recipients of histologically evaluated kidneys did not differ significantly from that of grafts in positive-reference recipients but was superior to that of grafts in negative-reference recipients (hazard ratio for graft failure in the negative-reference recipients relative to the recipients of histologically evaluated kidneys, 3.68; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.29 to 10.52; P=0.02). The performance of preimplantation histologic evaluation predicted better survival both in the whole study group (P=0.02) and among recipients of kidneys from older donors (P=0.01).

Conclusions The long-term survival of single or dual kidney grafts from donors older than 60 years of age is excellent, provided that the grafts are evaluated histologically before implantation. This approach may help to expand the donor-organ pool for kidney transplantation.

Source Information

From the Azienda Ospedaliera, Ospedali Riuniti di Bergamo, Bergamo (G.R., P.C., G.L., P. Ruggenenti); the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, Bergamo (G.R., P.C., A.P., B.D.D., M.T., P. Ruggenenti); the Azienda Ospedaliera Giustinianeo, Università degli Studi, Padua (P. Rigotti, N.B.); the Ospedale San Martino, Genoa (M.B., U.V.); and the Centro Interregionale di Riferimento del Nord Italia Transplant, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan (M.S.) — all in Italy.

Address reprint requests to Dr. Ruggenenti at the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, Via Gavazzeni 11, 24125 Bergamo, Italy, or at manuelap{at}marionegri.it.

Full Text of this Article

Related Letters:

Long-Term Outcome of Renal Transplantation from Older Donors
Raspollini M. R., Messerini L., Taddei G. L., Panesar M., Kumar J., Abul-Ezz S., Haas M., Rabb H., Kraus E. S., Hilbrands L. B., Wetzels J. F.M., Ruggenenti P., Dimitrov B. D., Remuzzi G.
Extract | Full Text | PDF  
N Engl J Med 2006; 354:2071-2074, May 11, 2006. Correspondence

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