BackgroundAs the number of elderly kidney transplant recipients increases, long-term outcome differences between this population and younger kidney transplant recipients are not well documented. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the effect of rATG dosing on long-term outcomes between elderly and young kidney transplant recipients.MethodsA single-center retrospective analysis of medical records of 688 first-time kidney transplant recipients (KTR) from 2003 to 2014 on a regimen of mycophenolate mofetil, tacrolimus, and steroids was performed. During the 11-year period there were no immunosuppresion protocol changes. Baseline characteristics, first biopsy-proven acute rejection (BPAR), estimated glomerular filtration rates (eGFR), graft survival, and patient survival at discharge and annually up to 5 years post-transplant were analyzed. Various statistical tests including Chi-square test, two-sample t-test, and Mann-Whitney U test were used to compare data obtained from this study.ResultsThe study population was divided into two cohorts: elderly (E-KTR) (≥60 years; n=277) and younger (Y-KTR) (40-59 years; n=411). E-KTR received more expanded criteria donor kidneys (p<0.001) and older donor kidneys (p<0.001). Y-KTR experienced more BPAR in incidence (p<0.001) than E-KTR, however, the severity of BPAR was similar. A difference in eGFR was observed at discharge, where Y-KTR had better eGFR rates than E-KTR (p<0.05). At 5-years, a trend was observed indicating that E-KTR have better eGFR rates than Y-KTR. Despite similar long-term graft survival, patient survival was significantly lower among the elderly patients (p<0.01). An indication for higher mortality rates in E-KTR is due to rATG dosing for which we found that mortality increased with patients who received high rATG doses in comparison to low doses (p<0.05).ConclusionE-KTR had lower patient survival rates yet similar graft survival rates when compared to Y-KTR. Lower survival rates in E-KTR was associated with higher rATG dosing. Larger validation studies need to be performed to assess the benefit of using less harmful immunosuppressants to improve long-term outcomes for E-KTR.
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