Activity and results of liver transplantation in Spain during 1984-2012. Analysis of the Spanish Liver Transplant Registry

Abstract

Background and objectiveLiver transplantation (LT) is a proven effective treatment of severe liver disease. The aim of this paper is to analyze the results of LT in Spain during the period 1984–2012. Patients and methodWe analyze the results of the database of Spanish Liver Transplant Registry. ResultsA total of 20,288 transplants were performed in 18,568 patients. The median age of the donor and recipient increased during the analysis period: 25 years (95% confidence interval [95% CI] 18–40) and 47 years (95% CI 34–55), respectively, in the period 1984–1994 compared to 59 years (95% CI 33–65; P<.05) and 55 years (95% CI 48–61; P<.01), respectively, in the period 2010–2012. The most frequent indications were liver cirrhosis (63.18%) and hepatocellular carcinoma (19.62%). The overall patient and graft survival was respectively 85.1 and 77.8% in the first year, 72.6 and 63.5% the fifth year and 62 and 52.6% in the tenth year. First year patients and graft survival increased respectively from 77.8 and 66.3% in the period 1984–1994 to 88.5 and 83% in 2010–2012 (P<.01). Donor and recipient age, etiology of underlying disease, and hepatitis C virus serological status, were factors associated with decreased survival in univariate and multivariate analysis. ConclusionsResults of LT improved significantly over the review period, despite a progressive increase in donor and recipient age.