Liver Transplantation in Older Patients

To the Editor: The impact of liver transplantation on public health policy has not been delineated, partly because of uncertainty about the upper age limit for candidacy. We have compared the outlook in 363 adult recipients of livers who were less than 50 years old (mean +SD, 35.8+8.5) and 92 recipients who were 50 to 77 years old (mean +SD, 55.7+4.8). Cyclosporine and steroids1,2 were used for immunosuppression, and monoclonal antilymphocyte globulin3 and azathioprine were added as needed. The techniques of liver transplantation4 were not influenced by the age of the patient. The indications for transplantation are shown in Figure 1…., No extract is available for articles shorter than 400 words.