Older kidneys transplantable
From Times wire reports
Kidneys from elderly donors can be just as effective in transplants as younger ones, a new study has found, raising the prospect of more kidneys available each year for the thousands of people who need them.
About 60,000 people in the United States are on a waiting list for a transplant, but only 16,000 per year will receive one.
But if a kidney from a donor older than 60 -- or a pair of kidneys -- has enough healthy filtering cells, the transplant success rate is just as high as with younger kidneys, the Italian study said.
The research was published in the Jan. 26 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
