Ninety-Day Readmission and Morbidity Following Liver Transplantation for MASLD

Area of Science:

• Hepatology
• Transplantation Surgery
• Metabolic Disorders

Background:

• Short-term outcomes after liver transplantation (LT) for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) are not well-defined.
• Previous studies have not compared 90-day readmission and morbidity between MASLD and non-MASLD LT recipients.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare 90-day readmission rates and morbidity between MASLD and non-MASLD liver transplant recipients.
• To analyze trends in LT for MASLD versus other etiologies.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the National Readmissions Database (NRD) from 2016-2022 for liver transplant recipients.
• Defined morbidity as an aggregate of common surgical complications.
• Employed quasi-Poisson and multivariable logistic regression models to analyze outcomes and associated factors.

Main Results:

• Liver transplantation (LT) for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) increased, while LT for hepatitis C and liver cancer decreased.
• MASLD LT recipients had higher rates of obesity and liver cancer but experienced lower 90-day readmission, morbidity, and cardiovascular complications.
• MASLD etiology improved or maintained 90-day outcomes in patients with obesity and liver cancer.

Conclusions:

• Despite increased comorbidities, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) liver transplant recipients demonstrated superior 90-day readmission and morbidity outcomes.
• MASLD appears to normalize short-term outcomes in liver transplant recipients with obesity and liver cancer.