Purpose: The impact of using pancreas from elderly donors on clinical outcomes in pancreas transplantation (PTx) is unknown. This study investigated this question by comparing the outcomes of PTx using elderly and non-elderly donors in a single Japanese center, in order to expand donor criteria.
Patients and Methods: Fifty-four patients who received PTx from deceased donors in our institution were enrolled. Posttransplant outcomes were analyzed based on donor age, with elderly donors defined as aged ≥60 years.
Results: The donors included six elderly (11.1%; aged 64 ± 4 years) and 48 non-elderly donors (88.9%; aged 43 ± 12 years). There was no significant difference in donor age between cases with and without postoperative complication or early pancreas graft loss. Long-term outcomes, including overall, pancreas graft, and kidney graft survival after PTx, did not differ significantly between the elderly- and non-elderly-donor groups. Graft age (the donor’s age at the time of donation plus the graft survival period) was not associated with graft loss.
Conclusion: The results suggest that posttransplant outcomes of PTx using elderly pancreas donors aged ≥60 years are comparable to those using non-elderly donors, and should help to expand the donor pool for transplantation therapy for type 1 diabetes mellitus.