| Abstract: | Two comparable groups of kidney transplant recipients were identified according to the age of their kidney donors. The first group (A) comprised 42 recipients of donors aged < 40 years, and the second group (B) comprised 48 recipients of donors aged > 50 years. The patients were followed for a mean period of 26 months (range 13–50 months). Post-transplant renal function and graft survival were assessed together with the frequency of post-transplant proteinuria and hypertension. More-over, the functional reserve of the grafts was determined by comparing the clearance values, obtained by both isotope and chemical means, before and after a combined infusion of dopamine and an amino acids preparation. The graft function was significantly better in group A according to the serum creatinine levels (µmol/l) at 1 month (107 ± 4.5 vs. 134 ± 10.7, P < 0.01), 12 months (119 ± 5.3 vs. 181 ± 88, P < 0.05) and at last follow-up visit (118 ± 6.2 vs. 223 ± 63, P < 0.03) for groups A and B, respectively. The graft survival in group A was significantly higher than that in group B (100 % vs. 87 % at 1 year, P < 0.05). The graft functional reserve was significantly better in group A than in group B. Post-transplant proteinuria was significantly more frequent in group B recipients (70 % vs. 40 %, P < 0.03). The age of the donors had no impact on the incidence of post-transplant hypertension. These observations suggest that the transplantation of a kidney from an older live kidney donor is associated with an inferior post-transplant outcome. |
