Objective: We sought to describe the prevalence and outcomes of liver transplantation in children with intellectual disability (ID). We hypothesized that recipients with ID have comparable short-term outcomes compared with those without ID.
Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort analysis of children receiving a first liver-alone transplant in the United Network for Organ Sharing dataset from 2008 to 2013. Recipients with definite or probable ID were compared to children without ID using χ tests. Kaplan-Meier curves were constructed for patient and graft survival. Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate the association between ID and graft failure and patient survival.
Results: During the study period, 254 children with definite (115) or probable (139) ID underwent first liver transplant, accounting for 15% of all first pediatric liver transplants (1721). Recipients with definite ID tended to be male have a metabolic indication for transplant, a lower pediatric end-stage liver disease score at listing than recipients with no ID, and were less likely to receive a living donor transplant. Recipients with ID were more likely to have public insurance and had more treatment-related hospitalizations in the first year than those without ID. Functional status tended to improve in all recipients at follow-up. ID was not significantly associated with patient or graft survival.
Conclusions: Children with ID form a significant portion of total liver transplant recipients, and their short-term graft and patient survival are comparable with children without ID. Further research is needed to examine long-term outcomes of transplant in this population.