Expanded criteria donors for kidney transplantation: quality control and results

Abstract

Although the number of kidneys from expanded criteria deceased donors (ECDs) is growing in most transplant centers, the limits for acceptance of these kidneys and the safety standards have still not been fully established. We evaluated 342 kidney transplants performed between January 1999 and December 2004. In 77 (22.5%) of these, the kidneys were from ECDs, that is, donors age >60 years and with one of the following characteristics: hypertension, death due to cerebrovascular accident (CVA) or glomerular filtration rate (GFR) <70 mL/min. The results of the ECD transplants were compared with 265 transplants during the same period from standard donors (SDs), that is, donors age <60 years and GFR > 70 mL/min. All the ECD kidneys underwent biopsy and were accepted for transplantation only if the score was <7. The ECDs (66.5 +/- 4.3 years) in comparison with the SDs (48.0 +/- 16.0 years) had a greater frequency of death due to CVA (94.8% vs 49.8%) and a lower GFR (80.4 +/- 25.0 vs 111 +/- 41.6 mL/min; P < .05). Of the ECDs, 97.4% had a history of hypertension versus 24.3% of the SDs. Kidney biopsies were performed in 116 SD kidneys because the donor age was >55 years or there was a history of hypertension. The median score for the kidney biopsies of the ECD kidneys was 3 versus 2 for the SD kidneys. Graft survival was not significantly different until the fifth year. The GFR at 12 months was significantly different (SDs, 58.0 +/- 22.7 vs ECDs, 48.9 +/- 16.5 mL/min; P < .05). Although the GFR in the ECD kidneys was lower than that of the SD kidneys, it could still be adequate for recipients older than 50 years of age. Accordingly, the acceptance criteria for ECD kidneys based mainly on the kidney biopsy score and donor GFR benefit the recipients.