Landscape of donor cause of death and its impact on liver transplant outcomes: a ten-year analysis from the UNOS database

Abstract

BackgroundCause of death (COD) is a predictor of liver transplant (LT) outcomes independent of donor age, yet has not been recently reappraised. MethodsAnalyzing UNOS database (2013-2022), the study explored COD trends and impacts on one-year post-LT graft survival (GS) and hazard ratios (HR) for graft failure. ResultsOf 80,282 brain-death donors, 55,413(69.0%) underwent initial LT. Anoxia became the predominant COD in 2015, increasing from 29.0% in 2013 to 45.1% in 2021, with notable increases in drug intoxication. Survival differences between anoxia and cerebrovascular accidents (CVA) recently became insignificant (P=0.95). Further analysis showed improved GS from intracranial hemorrhage/stroke (previously worse; P<0.01) (P=0.70). HRs for post-1-year graft failure showed reduced significance of CVA (vs.Anoxia) and intracranial hemorrhage/stroke (vs.any other COD) recently. Donors with intracranial hemorrhage/stroke, showing improved survival and HR, were allocated to recipients with lower MELD-Na, contrasting the trend for drug intoxication CODs. DiscussionCVA, traditionally linked with poorer outcomes, shows improved GS and HRs (vs.Anoxia). This could be due to rising drug intoxication cases and the allocation of donors with drug intoxication to recipients with higher MELD-Na, and those with CVA to recipients with lower scores. While COD remains crucial in donor selection, proper matching can mitigate differences among CODs.