Background: Population aging is a major health concern in Asian countries and it has affected the age distribution of patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). As a consequence, the need for kidney transplantation in the geriatric population has increased, but the shortage of donors is an obstacle for geriatric renal transplantation. The aim of this study was to evaluate risk factors for graft failure and death in geriatric renal transplantation.
Methods: Kidney transplantations performed in a tertiary hospital in South Korea from May 1995 to December 2014 were retrospectively reviewed. Recipients younger than 60 years of age or who underwent other organ transplantations were excluded. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to assess patient and graft survival. A Cox regression analysis was used to evaluate risk factors for graft failure and patient death.
Results: A total of 229 kidney transplantation patients were included. Graft survival at 1, 5, and 10 years were 93.2%, 82.9%, and 61.2% respectively. Patient survival at 1, 5, and 10 years were 94.6%, 86.9%, and 68.8%, respectively. According to the Cox multivariate analysis, ABO incompatibility (hazard ratio [HR] 3.91, p < 0.002), DGF (HR 3.544, p < 0.004), CMV infection (HR 2.244, p < 0.011), and HBV infection (HR 6.349, p < 0.015) were independent risk factors for graft survival. Recipient age (HR 1.128, p < 0.024), ABO incompatibility (HR 3.014, p < 0.025), CMV infection (HR 2.532, p < 0.010), and the number of HLA mismatches (HR 1.425, p < 0.007) were independent risk factors for patient death.
Conclusion: Kidney transplantation in the geriatric population showed good clinical outcomes. ABO incompatibility, DGF, CMV infection, and HBV infection were risk factors for graft failure and the recipient age, ABO incompatibility, CMV infection, and the number of HLA mismatches were risk factors for patient death in geriatric renal transplantation.