Korean J Nephrol.  2008 Sep;27(5):576-583.

The Relationship between Recipients Age on the Development of Acute Rejection and Graft Survival in Kidney Transplantation

• Han SS
• Lee SW
• Ahn JM
• Ahn C
• Han JS
• Kim S
• Kim YS

Abstract

PURPOSE: Previously, acute rejection (AR) episode in the elderly recipients was reported to be lower compared to that of young recipients. However, the relationship between the recipients age, incidence of AR, and graft survival has not been reevaluated recently.
METHODS
Four hundred thirty-one recipients who had the first kidney transplantation were recruited, and we performed a retrospective study evaluating the incidence of AR, infectious episodes in one year, and graft and patient survival rates at 1 and 5 years. We divided recipients into 2 groups (age< 50, n=340 and age=50, n=91) and compared the outcomes.
RESULTS
The incidence of AR was 18.8% in the younger group and 24.2% in the elderly group (p=NS). The incidence of infectious episodes was 24.7% in the younger group and 24.2% in the elderly group (p=NS). Five-year graft survival in the elderly was not significantly different from that in the younger group (90.8% vs. 91.8%). However, the patient survival at five year was different between the younger and the elderly groups (99.1% and 92.2%, respectively, p<0.05).
CONCLUSION
Our findings suggest that recipients age would not influence the incidence of AR and graft survival. Therefore, the immunosuppression should be applied according to the conditions of recipients, not to recipients age.

Keyword

Aged; Kidney transplantation; Survival; Graft rejection

MeSH Terms

Aged
Graft Rejection
Graft Survival
Humans
Immunosuppression
Incidence
Kidney
Kidney Transplantation
Rejection (Psychology)
Retrospective Studies
Survival Rate
Transplants