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Older kidneys transplantable

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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.

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The research was published in the Jan. 26 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

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