Long-term outcomes of liver transplantation in patients with hepatitis C infection are not affected by HCV positivity of a donor. Issue 1 (December 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Stepanova, Maria; Sayiner, Mehmet; de Avila, Leyla; Younoszai, Zahra; Racila, Andrei; Younossi, Zobair
• Is Part Of: BMC gastroenterology. Volume 16:Issue 1(2016)
• Page Start: 1
• Page End: 6
• Publication Date: 2016-12
• Subjects: Liver transplant -- HCV -- Extended criteria donor; Gastroenterology -- Periodicals; Gastrointestinal Diseases -- Periodicals; Biliary Tract Diseases -- Periodicals; Molecular Biology -- Periodicals; Liver Diseases -- Periodicals; 616.33005
• DOI: 10.1186/s12876-016-0551-z
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1471-230X

Abstract

Abstract Background The use of HCV-positive livers for HCV-positive recipients is becoming more common. Our aim is to evaluate long-term outcomes in liver transplant recipients transplanted with HCV antibody-positive organs. Methods From the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (1995–2013), we selected all adult liver transplant recipients with HCV, and cross-sectionally compared long-term graft loss and mortality rates between those who were transplanted from HCV antibody-positive (HCV+) vs. HCV antibody-negative donors. Results We included 33, 668 HCV+ liver transplant recipients (54.0 ± 7.7 years old, 74.1% male, 71.0% white, 23.6% with liver malignancy). Of those, 5.7% (N = 1930) were transplanted from HCV+ donors; the proportion gradually increased from 2.9% in 1995 to 9.4% in 2013. Patients who were transplanted from HCV+ positive donors were more likely to be discharged alive after transplantation (95.4% vs. 93.9%, p = 0.006), but this difference was completely accounted for by a greater proportion of HCV+ donors in more recent study years (p = 0.10 after adjustment for the transplant year). After transplantation, both mortality in HCV patients transplanted from HCV+ donors (12.5% in 1 year, 24.2% in 3 years, 33.0% in 5 years) and the graft loss rate (2.2% in 1 year, 4.8% in 3 years, 7.5% in 5 years) were similar to those in HCV patients transplanted from HCV-negative donors (allp > 0.05). Conclusions Over the past two decades, the use of HCV+ organs for liver transplantation has tripled. Despite this, the long-term outcomes of HCV+ liver transplant recipients transplanted from HCV+ donors were not different from those who were transplanted with HCV-negative organs.