Analysis of Cadaver Donor Criteria on the Kidney Transplant Survival Rate in 5,129 Transplantations

PURPOSE: To clarify the role of donor criteria we retrospectively analyzed a series of 5,129 cadaver kidney grafts harvested from January 1, 1989 to December 31, 1991. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Graft survival was calculated and analyzed using a multifactorial approach. RESULTS: Better graft survival was obtained with donors between 6 and 50 years old (80% versus 64% at 3 years), grafts performed from male donors (74% versus 69% at 3 years), donor deaths caused by cranial injury as opposed to cerebral hemorrhage (74% versus 70% at 3 years) and negative cytomegalovirus antibodies (75% versus 71% at 3 years). CONCLUSIONS: These factors may be used for kidney allocation.