Background: Due to the organ shortage, marginal donors are increasingly used in liver transplantation (OLT). These grafts may be safely used in less critical recipients but, the real influence of extended donor criteria (EDC) remains uncertain when graft-recipient matching is not applied. Our study analyzed the impact of EDC on initial graft function within the Eurotransplant patient-driven allocation system.
Patients and methods: We reviewed 70 OLT performed between 2004 and 2006. The impact of the following EDC were analyzed: age > 60; intensive care unit (ICU) stay > 4 days; peak serum Na(+) > 160 mEq/L; body mass index (BMI) > 30; cardiac arrest with cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and high doses of vasopressors. Early graft function, as defined according to peak transaminase level and spontaneous prothrombin time within the first 5 posttransplant days, was compared between the donors with none or one criterion (group A = 39) and those with >1 criterion (group B = 31).
Results: The most frequent EDC were high vasopressor use, ICU stay > 4 days and BMI > 30, were present in respectively 44%, 27%, and 16% of the donors. No EDC were present in 13 donors, one in 26, three in eight, and four in three. Demographics and origin and severity of the liver disease were similar in both groups. We failed to observe significant differences in initial graft function.
Conclusion: The presence of EDC did not significantly affect early graft function in a population where donor and recipient were not matched. While this observation must be confirmed in a multicenter analysis, it tends to support the use of marginal liver grafts, even in patient-driven allocation systems.