General Discussion

Live donors are generally limited by age - not because their organs are not viable, but because of the difficulty of recovering from major elective surgery.

For decreased donors, there is no fixed upper age limit. The viability of donation, and if each organ, is determined at the time is death. As we age it is likely that some organs will no longer be viable, even as others are viable. In addition, some less than perfect organs are used with the recipient's consent. If the choice is between dying on the transplant list versus receiving a less than perfect organ, many would opt for the less then perfect organ. I know people with my daughter's disease (which requires one or more liver transplants) who have died on the transplant list.