Background: Individuals greater than 60 years old donate an important portion of the organs available for orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT), but use of donors in this age group remains controversial. We hypothesized that proper selection of donors older than age 60 would not disadvantage recipients in terms of patient and graft survival.
Study design: All OLTs performed at our center between January 1, 1990, and July 31, 2007, were divided into groups based on donor age: donors 60 years old or more and donors less than 60 years old. Recipients in each group were compared based on graft and patient survival at 1, 3, and 5 years, Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) scores, cold ischemic times, and era of transplant (before or after 2001).
Results: There were 741 recipients who met inclusion criteria. Ninety-one patients received livers from donors 60 years old or older, and 650 patients had donors younger than 60 years old. Overall patient survival rates in the group using donors 60 or older were 86.8%, 72.6%, and 67.6% at 1, 3, and 5 years, respectively, and did not differ significantly from survival in the group receiving transplants from donors less than 60 (87.1%, 81.8%, and 75.5%; p=0.39). The 1-, 3-, and 5-year graft survivals in patients receiving transplants from donors 60 or older were 82.4%, 65%, and 62.5%, respectively, and were not significantly different from those in the group using donors younger than 60 (84%, 78.6%, and 72.3%, respectively; p=0.39). Neither patient survival nor graft survival in recipients of organs from donors 60 or older was affected by Model of End-Stage Liver Disease score. Recipients of older-donor livers had improved outcomes after 2001, which correlated with significant improvements in cold ischemic times.
Conclusions: Our data suggest that age alone does not adversely affect recipient outcomes. When properly selected, donors older than 60 represent an important and safe increase in the liver donor pool.