Reassessing Geographic, Logistical, and Cold Ischemia Cutoffs in Liver Transplantation

Liver acceptance patterns vary significantly between transplant centers. Data pertaining to outcomes of livers declined by local and regional centers and allocated nationally remains limited.

The objective was to compare post-liver transplant outcomes between liver allografts transplanted as a result of national and local-regional allocation.

This was a retrospective evaluation of 109 nationally allocated liver allografts used for transplant by a single center. Outcomes of nationally allocated grafts were compared to standard allocation grafts (N  =  505) during the same period.

Recipients of nationally allocated grafts had lower model for end stage liver disease scores (17 vs 22, P  =  .001). Nationally allocated grafts were more likely to be post-cross clamp offers (29.4% vs 13.4%, P  =  .001) and have longer cold ischemia times (median hours 7.8 vs 5.5, P  =  .001). Early allograft dysfunction was common (54.1% vs 52.5%, P  =  .75) and did not impact hospital length of stay (median 5 vs 6 days, P  =  .89). There were no differences in biliary complications (P  =  .11). There were no differences in patient (P  =  .88) or graft survival (P  =  .35). In a multivariate model, after accounting for differences in cold ischemia time and posttransplant biliary complications, nationally allocated grafts were not associated with increased risk for graft loss (HR 0.9, 95% CI 0.4-1.8). Abnormal liver biopsy findings (33.0%) followed by donor donation after circulatory death status (22.9%) were the most common reasons for decline by local-regional centers.

Despite longer cold ischemia times, patient and graft survival outcomes remain excellent and comparable to those seen from standard allocation grafts.