Abstract
Background: Donor age affects allograft quality and the prognosis of recipients after liver transplantation (LT). Clinicians have assessed the quality of grafts from older donors based on their appearance and texture, with no reliable quantitative evidence. Our study aimed to assess the quantitative impact of donor age on post-transplant outcomes and its safety threshold for LT, based on the published literature.Methods: Relevant studies were retrieved from the Embase, PubMed, and ISI Web of Science databases. Pooled dichotomous relative risks (RRs) were calculated using metan. Continuous RRs were calculated using a two-stage random-effects model.Results: Eleven studies including 30,691 LT cases were included for further analysis. For categorical comparison, the RR of death within the first post-transplant year was significantly higher among patients who received grafts from older donors. Similarly, the RR of graft failure (GF) was increased within the 3 years after transplantation. For continuous comparison, advanced donor age affected transplant outcomes in a linear manner (P > 0.05). A 10-year increment in donor age was associated with RRs 1.10, 1.12, 1.15, 1.10, and 1.08 for 90-day, 180-day, 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year patient mortality and 1.08, 1.06, 1.10, 1.11, and 1.12, for 90-day, 180-day, 1-year, 2-year, and 3-year GF, respectively (all P < 0.05). A spline model showed that transplants using grafts from donors <43 years old were not associated with age-related risks (P > 0.05). The risk of GF was increased in subgroups with fewer LT cases, longer cold ischemic time, fewer male donors, and recipients with viral hepatitis (P < 0.05).Conclusion: Donor age might affect post-LT outcomes in a dose-dependent manner. The safety threshold for donor age in terms of GF should be lowered to 43 years as an early warning for the guarantee of satisfactory outcomes. Clinicians should weigh the benefits against the risks carefully for patients receiving grafts from older donors. Further studies are warranted to investigate the mechanisms responsible for the relationship between donor age and graft quality.
Highlights
Liver transplantation (LT) is currently considered as one of the most important curative treatments for end-stage liver disease
Increased use of grafts from older donors might help to solve the organ shortage, and several studies have evaluated the impacts of older donors on recipient prognosis after LT [12, 16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27]; the conclusions of these studies have differed due to inconsistencies in recipient age, cold ischemia time (CIT), warm ischemia time (WIT), and the original disease of the recipient
We evaluated the relative risk (RR) based on donor age
Summary
Liver transplantation (LT) is currently considered as one of the most important curative treatments for end-stage liver disease. Increased use of grafts from older donors might help to solve the organ shortage, and several studies have evaluated the impacts of older donors on recipient prognosis after LT [12, 16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27]; the conclusions of these studies have differed due to inconsistencies in recipient age, cold ischemia time (CIT), warm ischemia time (WIT), and the original disease of the recipient. Donor age affects allograft quality and the prognosis of recipients after liver transplantation (LT). Clinicians have assessed the quality of grafts from older donors based on their appearance and texture, with no reliable quantitative evidence. Our study aimed to assess the quantitative impact of donor age on post-transplant outcomes and its safety threshold for LT, based on the published literature
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