Orthotopic Liver Transplantation: Preliminary Analysis of Complications With Grafts From Elderly Donors

This study aims to determine if donor grafts of patients older than 65 years develop more post-transplantation complications than those of younger patients.

This is a retrospective, observational study of liver transplant recipients during 12 months in Virgen del Rocio University Hospital. We compare incidence rates of reperfusion syndrome, acute kidney injury, and need for intra- and postoperative red blood cell transfusions in two donor age groups in which group A is <65 years old and group B is ≥65 years old.

Sixty cases were included. Reperfusion syndrome, acute kidney injury, and both intra- and postoperative red blood cell transfusion were more frequent in group A than group B (11.4% vs. 4%, P = .390; 44% vs. 32%, P = .423; 68.8% vs. 48%, P = .120; and 70.6% vs. 64%, P = .779, respectively). Six recipients (17.1%) died at 12 months from group A whereas there were no deaths register in group B during that time (P = .036).

Our results showed that including elderly donors does not aggravate incidence of complications, emphasizing that advanced age should not be an exclusion criteria for liver transplantation.