My dad was registered one week prior to his 71st birthday. He received his transplant two months later (at age 71). I know that once the decision was made to list him, everything moved quickly. He had to be registered prior to turning 71. I'm not sure how old you can be after being registered to still qualify for the transplant. Seems like there would be some restrictions. For my dad, I wish there was more extensive testing due to his age. After transplant he started complaining about his right leg not working. We questioned if he had a stroke during transplant. He did not. It took a couple of years and many neurologists to finally diagnose parkinsonism. He did not match any one form of Parkinson (there are eight different types) so they diagnosed it generically as parkinsonism.
My personal opinion, solely mine, not medically based, but when the recipient is elderly there needs to be more consideration about what is best. Just because he qualified and had a great match, doesn't mean he should have had the transplant. Please don't get me wrong, I am extremely grateful for the gift that was given and the extra time with my dad. However, his extra years were not good. This again was due to the Parkinson, not the transplant. He lived six years post transplant. During that time he was never independent, never golfed again, never walked on his own again and spent the last three and a half years in a nursing home. He never had the quality of life that we had hoped for.
The testing process was rushed and as a family we were excited for the opportunity. We didn't understand the full process and really didn't think about any other conditions he may have had. Looking back I wish he would have had a neuro psych exam prior to listing. This may have revealed the parkin sons sooner.
When it is an older person, more questions should be asked, more test should be completed. We are not looking for another successful transplant, a number, as a patient and the patient's family, we are looking for extended quality of life, not quantity.
I hope this helps you. I want to reiterate, his transplant was a great success, a great match. His problems were from other unknown medical conditions.