An overview of EU and USA intestinal transplant current activity

To report the current activity of intestinal transplantation in Europe (EU) and Unites States of America (USA), underlining outcomes in the last 5 years and discussing possible trends.

Data review of results was performed through analysis of ITR and UNOS registries, Eurotransplant and newsletter transplant reports, congress abstracts, international published literature, personal communications and hospital web sites.

The absence in Europe of a sole organization collecting donors and the presence of many low-volume centers (less than 5 cases/year) makes the difference with USA: in the last 5 years (2010-2014), 222 intestinal/multivisceral transplants have been performed in EU countries (most of them in the UK), while in USA, the number of transplants achieved 634 procedures in the same period of time. Waiting list mortality remains unacceptable in both continents. Improved short-term results, with over 80% survival at 1 year, have been achieved in the busiest transplant centers likely due to immune-induction agents, more recently to innovative cross match strategies and optimizing organ allocation, but long term outcomes are still inferior to other organ transplants. Most long-term survivors were reintegrated to society with self-sustained socioeconomic status. The economic burden for the society is high and related costs are different between USA and EU (and inside Europe between member state's health-care systems), but cost-effectiveness for intestinal transplantation still needs to be proved.

Overall intestinal transplantation continues to develop in EU and USA together with surgical and medical rehabilitation of patients affected by short gut syndrome.