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Updated: Apr 27, 2026
Functional Human Liver Preservation and Recovery by Means of Subnormothermic Machine Perfusion
Published on: April 27, 2015
Reuse of liver grafts following the brain death of the initial recipient
Hideaki Tanaka1, Vivian C McAlister1, Mark A Levstik1
1Hideaki Tanaka, Vivian C McAlister, Mark A Levstik, Cameron N Ghent, Paul J Marotta, Douglas Quan, William J WalL, Multi-Organ Transplant Program, London Health Sciences Centre, London, Ontario N6A 5A5, Canada.
Aim:
To determine if there is a reasonable prospect of success of a re-use liver transplantation.
Methods:
We systematically searched for reports of liver graft re-use using electronic searches of PubMed and Web of Knowledge. We performed hand searches of references lists of articles reporting re-use of grafts.
Results:
A systematic review of the literature reveals 28 liver transplantations using previously transplanted grafts. First and second recipients ranged in age from 4 to 72 years and 29 to 62 years respectively. Liver disease in the first recipient was varied including 5 (18%) patients with fulminant liver failure who died subsequently of cerebral edema. The second transplantation was performed after a median interval of 5 d (one day-13 years). Viral hepatitis was present in 3 (11%) of the initial recipients and in 8 (29%) of final recipients. Hepatocellular carcinoma was present in 6 (21%) of the final recipients. Early survival after the final transplantation was 93%, whereas long-term survival was 78% with a mean follow-up of 23.3 (3-120) mo.
Conclusion:
Outcomes of transplantation using previously transplanted grafts in this select population are similar to those seen with conventional grafts.
