Transplant recipients who receive a kidney from an older donor experience an increased stiffening of their aorta which may provide an explanation for the higher rates of cardiovascular disease and death in patients receiving kidneys from expanded criteria donors (ECD), according to a new study.

A team of French researchers - led by Michael Delahousse and Michel Chaignon of Foch Hospital in Suresnes and Jean-Philippe Haymann of Tenon Hospital in Paris used a technique called cartoid-femoral pulse wave velocity to measure aortic stiffness in 74 patients who had received kidney transplants from deceased donors. Increased stiffness is a sign of damage to the large arteries ...