GRAFT FUNCTION AND OUTCOME OF OLDER (???60 YEARS) DONOR LIVERS
- 1 April 1996
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health) in Transplantation
- Vol. 61 (7), 1062-1066
- https://doi.org/10.1097/00007890-199604150-00013
Abstract
Livers from donors ≥60 years of age are often considered inadequate for transplantation by many centers. With waiting times exceeding 1 year in our region, we have aggressively used livers from this donor age group. Between 1990 and 1994, 209 patients received 223 liver grafts at our institution. Of these, 29 (13%) were from donors ≥60 years of age (group A) and 194 (87%) were from donors . Group A and B donors had similar liver, renal, and hematologic studies prior to donation. Weight, sex, race, and vasopressor requirement were also similar. Postoperative alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and prothrombin time were not significantly different over the first 10 postoperative days. Group A grafts were significantly more cholestatic than group B grafts on postoperative days 6-10. The retransplantation rate for primary graft nonfunction was not significantly different between group A (6.7%) and group B (3.4%; P=0.40). Patient and graft survival rates at 1 year were 58.6% and 44.8% for group A and 79.2% and 74.5% for group B (P. Initial graft function of older donor livers was similar to that of the matched younger group. However, patient and graft survival rates were significantly worse for the older donors, even when corrected for unrelated deaths. Livers should not be discarded based on age alone without inspection and/or biopsy to rule out significant steatosis. Prompt retransplantation for primary graft nonfunction of older donors will optimize recipient survival. Grafts from older donors are generally more cholestatic than those from the younger donor age group; however, many of them function quite well. At the present time, given the inability to identify donor variables associated with decreased recipient survival, we recommend cautious use of older liver grafts in healthier recipients.Keywords
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