Liver Transplantation Trends for Older Recipients: Regional and Ethnic Variations

Abstract

Background. Liver transplantation (LT) provides long-term survival for adults with end-stage liver disease. As a result of improved survival and an aging United States population the demand for LT in older patients is expected to increase. The aim of this study was to describe the transplantation trends in the older recipient (older than 65 years). Methods. Using the United Network for Organ Sharing database, we identified LT recipients between 1990 and 2006. We used Kaplan-Meier method to calculate overall survival (1, 3, 5 and 10 years) and Cox regression for predictors of survival. Results. During the study period 5630 (7.6%) LT recipients were older than 65 years. There were 4256 (79.4%) whites, Hispanic (10.3%), African Americans (AA) (3.6%), and rest (6.7%). There was an increase in LT for older than 65 years from 4.1% in 1990 to 10.2% in 2006 (P=0.002) and a regional variation (PP75 years), there was no difference in survival but when adjusted for race there was a significant difference in graft survival with a 10 year (white 40%, Hispanic 44%, and AA 19%) (P=0.04). Conclusion. The demand for LT in recipients older than 65 years is increasing. Although their survival is lower in comparison with recipients less than 65 years, there seems to be no difference in unadjusted survival with age stratification above 65 years. Among ethnic minorities, there was a disproportionately lower percentage of African Americans LT and a decreased survival.