*Purpose: Given the aging population of patients with end-stage renal disease, the transplant community is increasingly confronted with the challenge of evaluating elderly patients for transplant. To date, there have been limited reports of kidney transplants in octagenerians, particularly from a single center. As such, we sought to evaluate our experience of kidney transplant recipients over the age of 80 at the time of transplant.

*Methods: We performed a retrospective review of all kidney transplants at our institution between 2005 and 2017, focusing on those patients over age 80. We also analyzed our patients removed from the waiting list, using UNOS records.

*Results: Of a total of 2695 transplants in this period, there were 22 (0.82%) patients over age 80. A comparison of the groups is further delineated in table 1. Of the octagenerians, there were 5 deaths, and there was one early graft loss due to thrombosis. Death-censored graft survival, and patient survival are shown in figure 1. Analysis of the 3545 patients removed from the waitlist between 2005-2017, shown in figure 2, demonstrates that octagenerians had significantly higher removal rates due to death and deterioration.

*Conclusions: In a carefully selected group of octagenerians at a single center, overall outcomes, including graft- and patient-survival, were good, even in the face of fewer living-donors. Given the high risk of mortality on the waiting list, consideration for kidney transplant in octagenerians must be evaluated carefully.

« Back to 2019 American Transplant Congress