Open AccessLong‐term results of pancreas transplantation in patients older than 50 years
Author(s) -
Schenker Peter,
Vonend Oliver,
Krüger Bernd,
Klein Thomas,
Michalski Stefan,
Wunsch Andreas,
Krämer Bernhard K.,
Viebahn Richard
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
transplant international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.998
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1432-2277
pISSN - 0934-0874
DOI - 10.1111/j.1432-2277.2010.01172.x
Subject(s) - medicine , pancreas transplantation , pancreas , diabetes mellitus , surgery , retrospective cohort study , transplantation , population , kidney transplantation , survival rate , environmental health , endocrinology
Summary Aging of the population and improvements in diabetes therapy have led to an increased number of older pancreas transplant candidates. The aim of our retrospective study was to evaluate pancreas transplantation (PT) outcomes in patients ≥50 years, as limited data exist in these patients. We analyzed 398 consecutive pancreas transplant patients from June 1994 to June 2009 for different outcomes (patient/graft survival, rejection rate, and surgical complications) between the age groups ≥50 years ( n = 69) and <50 years ( n = 329). Donor and recipient characteristics were similar except for recipient age (54.0 vs. 38.8 years), BMI (24.6 vs. 22.9 kg/m 2 ), and duration of diabetes mellitus (36.0 vs. 27.7 years). One‐, 5‐, and 10‐year patient and graft (kidney/pancreas) survival were not significantly different between the groups with patient survival rates reaching 84% and pancreas graft survival up to 67% after 10 years. Surgical complications such as relaparotomy rate (34% vs. 33%) or pancreas graft thrombosis (14% vs. 11%) as well as 1‐year rejection rates (35% vs. 31%) were not significantly different. PT in selected patients aged ≥50 years resulted in survival comparable with that of younger patients. In conclusion, advanced age should no longer be considered as an exclusion criterion for PT. However, good medical assessment and careful patient selection are necessary.