Is a 69-year-old man with stable chronic renal insufficiency, on dialysis treatment for 2 years, a candidate for kidney transplantation?
A 69-year-old gentleman on dialysis without any significant medical problems would be a candidate for kidney transplantation if this procedure would have a significant impact on improving his quality of life. Due to the increasing age of persons being maintained on dialysis, more and more older patients are being referred for evaluation for transplantation. Such a person would be considered for transplantation if:
There are no comorbid factors that would jeopardize patient survival;
Patient is able to function independently, with (preferred) or without good family/social support;
Transplantation would improve his overall quality of life, with regards to functionality, and would not be performed solely to remove the patient from dialysis; and
The benefits of transplantation would not be diminished by the possible complications and potential (predictable) side effects of immunosuppression.
While the majority of older patients do well after transplantation, kidneys are limited in supply, and the benefits of transplanting an older patient must be considered heavily before undertaking such a procedure. Healthy persons at or above age 69 years can indeed achieve substantial benefit from transplantation.