Is Age an Exclusive Factor for Accepting Liver Donors?

Area of Science:

• Transplantation Medicine
• Geriatric Medicine
• Hepatology

Background:

• Assessing the viability of livers from donors aged 80 and above is critical.
• Understanding graft and recipient outcomes after transplantation with older donor livers is essential.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the viability of livers from donors aged 80 years or older.
• To analyze graft and recipient outcomes during a minimum 6-month follow-up period.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of liver donors aged 80+ from January 2011 to July 2019.
• Comparison of livers rejected solely for age versus those implanted.
• Assessment of donor variables and recipient 6-month survival post-transplant.

Main Results:

• 78% of offered livers were rejected, with 47% rejected exclusively due to donor age.
• 21% of livers from donors aged 80+ were implanted, with 2 requiring retransplantation.
• No significant differences in recipient outcomes were observed between older donor livers and younger donor livers, except for comorbidities.

Conclusions:

• Liver grafts are frequently rejected solely based on donor age, despite proven viability.
• Recipients of older donor livers demonstrate outcomes comparable to those receiving grafts from younger donors.
• Individualized donor evaluation is recommended over age-based exclusion criteria for liver donation.