Many clients execute their Advance Health Care Directives in our office as part of their long-term estate planning.  This medical power of attorney document contains a section for organ donation.  Older clients have remarked that no one would want or be able to use any of their organs or tissue because of their age.  However, a recent medical study may contradict this belief.
Healthy kidneys from elderly donors are often rejected, but even kidneys from donors 80 and older can function for years after transplantation, according to a study published online December 15 in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.
Luigi Biancone, M.D., of the University of Turin in Italy, and colleagues analyzed results of deceased donor kidney transplants performed at the Turin University Renal Transplant Center between 2003 and 2013.  They focused on almost 650 transplants from extended criteria donors — donors older than 60 and those aged 50 to 59 with certain risk factors.  After a follow-up of nearly five years on average, the researchers found that patient and kidney survival were comparable whether the kidney donors were in their 50s, 60s, 70s, or 80 and older.
Five-year patient survival rates ranged from 88 to 90 percent.  Kidney survival rates ranged from 66 to 75 percent.  Rates of kidneys rejected for transplantation were similar for organs from donors ages 50 to 79 years, but much higher for kidneys from donors 80 and older.
“The results of this study support the use of extended criteria donors, even donors older than 80 years, but they have to be accurately selected and managed with dedicated protocols,” Biancone said in a journal news release.
Source/more: Health Day/Physicians’ Briefing
For more questions and concerns on this topic, contact the experienced lawyers at Courtney Elder Law by calling 601-987-3000.