Trends of characteristics and outcomes of donors and recipients of deceased donor liver transplantation in the United States: 1990 to 2013

AIM: To compare trends in donor/recipient characteristics and outcomes using four period cohorts of liver transplant recipients from 1990 to 2009. METHODS: test (continuous variables). Univariate descriptive statistics/survival data were generated using Kaplan-Meier curves. Cox Proportional Hazards models were used for regression analyses of patient and graft survival. RESULTS: ), and the proportion of males were, respectively, 39.1 (± 17.4), 25.9 (± 5.7) and 60.3 for donors, and 51.3 (± 10.5), 27.7 (± 5.6), and 64.4 for recipients. Donor and transplantation rates differed between racial/ethnic groups. Median (Q1-Q3) cold and warm ischemia, waitlist, and hospital stay times were 8 (6.0-10.0) h and 45 (35-59) min, 93 (21-278) d, and 12 (8-20) d. Total functional assistance was required by 8% of recipients at wait-listing and 13.4% at transplantation. Overall survival at 1, 3, 5, 10, 15, and 20 years was 87.3%, 79.4%, 73.6%, 59.8%, 46.7%, and 35.9%, respectively. The 2005-2009 cohort had better patient and graft survival than the 1990-1994 cohort overall [HR 0.67 (0.62-0.72) and 0.66 (0.62-0.71)] and at five years [HR 0.73 (0.66-0.80) and 0.71 (0.65-0.77)]. CONCLUSION: Despite changes in donor quality, recipient characteristics, and declining functional status among transplant recipients, overall patient survival is superior and post-transplant outcomes continue to improve.