Graft Failure In Transplant Patients Research Articles

Impact of donor age on graft survival among liver transplant recipients: analysis of the United Network for Organ Sharing database

THE RELATIONSHIP between donor age and the transplantation of liver and other organs has been analyzed and reported by many investigators. Multiple causes of graft failure in transplant patients are still being evaluated. There are other factors, in addition to age, thought to affect the outcome of liver transplantation including race, gender, comorbidities, body mass index (BMI), functional status, and socioeconomic condition. Preliminary data have shown that mismatch of race (African-Americans donors and white recipients) may significantly increase the risk of liver graft failure independently of risk factors such as gender, ethnicity, and number of comorbidities. It has been demonstrated in recent studies that female recipients of male organs may not have a significant change in the risk of graft failure, but a worse outcome may be seen in male recipients of female organs. Also, it has been found that BMI does not significantly affect the rates of graft failure in liver transplant patients. Previous analyses have indicated that the use of livers from older donors increases the risk of organ failure in liver transplantation. In addition, while some studies support the notion that the age of the donor is very important in liver transplantation, other studies have concluded that advanced donor age should not be a contraindication to liver transplantation especially when individual and careful assessment of the donor was made. The primary objective of this analysis was to evaluate the impact of donor age on the outcome of liver transplantation, independently of other well-known risk factors.