The Reality of Inadequate Patient Care and the Need for a Global Action Framework in Organ Donation and Transplantation.

BACKGROUND: Transplant therapy is considered the best and often the only available treatment for thousands of patients with organ failure that results from communicable and noncommunicable diseases. The number of annual organ transplants is insufficient for the worldwide need. METHODS: We elaborate the proceedings of the workshop entitled "The Role of Science in the Development of International Standards of Organ Donation and Transplantation," organized by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and cosponsored by the World Health Organization in June 2021. RESULTS: We detail the urgency and importance of achieving national self-sufficiency in organ transplantation as a public health priority and an important contributor to reaching relevant targets of the United Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development. It details the elements of a global action framework intended for countries at every level of economic development to facilitate either the establishment or enhancement of transplant activity. It sets forth a proposed plan, by addressing the technical considerations for developing and optimizing organ transplantation from both deceased and living organ donors and the regulatory oversight of practices. CONCLUSIONS: This document can be used in governmental and policy circles as a call to action and as a checklist for actions needed to enable organ transplantation as treatment for organ failure.

International Travel for Liver Transplantation: A Comprehensive Assessment of the Impact on the United States Transplant System.

BACKGROUND: International travel for transplantation remains a global issue as countries continue to struggle in establishing self-sufficiency. In the United States, the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) requires citizenship classification at time of waitlisting to remain transparent and understand to whom our organs are allocated. This study provides an assessment of patients who travel internationally for liver transplantation and their outcomes using the current citizenship classification used by UNOS. METHODS: Adult liver UNOS data from 2003 to 2019 were used. Patients were identified as citizens, noncitizen, nonresidents (NCNR), or noncitizen residents (NC-R) according to citizenship status. Descriptive statistics compared demographics among the waitlisted patients and demographics and donor characteristics among transplant recipients. A competing risks model was used to examine waitlist outcomes. The Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards were used for posttransplant outcomes. RESULTS: There were significant demographic differences according to citizenship group among waitlisted (n = 125 652) and transplanted (n = 71 536) patients. Compared with US citizens, NCNR was associated with a 9% increase in transplant (subdistribution hazard ratio [SHR], 1.09; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.00-1.18; P = 0.04), and NC-R was associated with a 24% decrease in transplant (SHR, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.72-0.79; P < 0.0001) and a 23% increase in death or removal for being too sick (SHR, 1.23; 95% CI, 1.14-1.33; P < 0.0001). US citizens had significantly inferior graft and patient survival (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Though the purpose of the citizenship classification system is transparency, the results of this study highlight significant disparities in the access to and outcomes following liver transplantation according to citizenship status.

Asian American adolescents' willingness to donate organs and engage in family discussion about organ donation and transplantation.

CONTEXT: Despite the growing need for organ donation among Asian Americans, studies suggest that they are reluctant to donate. OBJECTIVE: To examine the association of attitudes and knowledge about organ donation and transplantation with willingness to donate and willingness to engage in family discussion about organ donation among Asian American adolescents. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. SETTING: The Big Island of Hawaii. PARTICIPANTS: Self-identified Asian American adolescents (Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Korean), ages 16 to 17 years old, and each adolescent's parent or guardian. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Asian American adolescents provided demographic information and completed the Modified Organ Donation Attitude Survey, the Organ Donation and Transplantation Knowledge Survey, and the Suinn-Lew Asian Self-Identity Acculturation Scale. A parent or guardian also provided demographic information. Linear regression analyses were used to examine the associations with willingness to donate and to engage in family discussion about organ discussion. RESULTS: Willingness to donate was associated with positive knowledge related to general aspects about organ donation and cultural limitations in receiving an organ transplant, a high level of acculturation, and a low level of negative attitudes (R2 = 0.402, F = 18.86, P = .005). Asian American adolescents with approving or positive attitudes were likely to engage in family discussion about organ donation (R2 = 0.195, F = 27.93, P = .005). To reinforce and maintain high levels of knowledge and positive attitudes, organ donation education is most likely needed in high schools.

Prediction of survival after liver retransplantation for late graft failure based on preoperative prognostic scores.

The current policy for determining priority for organ allocation is based on the model for end stage liver disease (MELD). We hypothesize that severity of graft dysfunction assessed by either the MELD score or the Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP) score correlates with mortality after liver retransplantation (re-OLT). To test this hypothesis, we analyzed the outcome of 40 consecutive patients who received re-OLT more than 90 days after primary orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). The Kaplan-Meier 1-year and 5-year survival rates after re-OLT were 69% and 62%, respectively. The area under the curve (AUC) values generated by the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves were 0.82 (CI 0.70-0.94) and 0.68 (CI 0.49-0.86), respectively (P =.11), for the CTP and MELD models in predicting 1-year mortality after re-OLT. The 1-year and 5-year survival rates for patients with CTP scores less than 10 were 100% versus 50% and 40%, respectively, for CTP scores of at least 10 (P =.0006). Patients with MELD scores less than or equal to 25 had 1-year and 5-year survival rates of 89% and 79%, respectively, versus 53% and 47%, respectively, for MELD scores greater than 25 (P =.038). Other mortality predictors include hepatic encephalopathy, intensive care unit (ICU) stay, recurrent hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, and creatinine level of 2 mg/dL or higher. Analysis of an independent cohort of 49 patients showed a trend for a correlation between CTP and MELD scores with 1-year mortality, with AUC of 0.59 and 0.57, in respective ROC curves. In conclusion, our results suggest that severity of graft failure based on CTP and MELD scores may be associated with worse outcome after re-OLT and provide a cautionary note for the "sickest first" policy of organ allocation.

A follow-up analysis of the pattern and predictors of dropout from the waiting list for liver transplantation in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma: implications for the current organ allocation policy.

Since our interim report of the intention-to-treat outcome of orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), we have performed a follow-up analysis of an expanded cohort of 70 patients to further assess whether the observed pattern and predictors of dropout are consistent with the rationale behind current HCC-adjusted Model for End Stage Liver Disease (MELD) organ allocation scheme. All except one patient had pretransplantation staging meeting our proposed expanded criteria-a single lesion < or =6.5 cm, or three or fewer lesions none >4.5 cm and total tumor diameter < or =8 cm. Thirty-eight patients received OLT. The cumulative probabilities of dropout at 6, 12, and 18 months were 7.2%, 37.8%, and 55.1%, respectively. The respective dropout probabilities would have been 11.0%, 57.4%, and 68.7% if the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) criteria for exclusion (single lesion < or =5 cm or three or fewer lesions none >3 cm) were applied. Predictors of dropout with either criteria included three tumor nodules and a single lesion >3 cm at initial presentation, whereas preoperative chemoembolization or ablation therapies were associated with a lower risk for dropout only when applying the UNOS criteria for patient exclusion. In the subgroup with two or three lesions or a solitary tumor >3 cm, the cumulative probabilities of dropout were nine-fold higher than those with a single lesion < or =3 cm (P =.004). In conclusion, the low dropout rate in the first 6 months and the differing dropout risks based on tumor characteristics support further refinements in the HCC-adjusted MELD organ allocation scheme.

Donor health assessment after living-donor liver transplantation.

OBJECTIVE: To elicit donor opinions on liver living donation through use of a survey that protected the anonymity of the respondent and to assay long-term (follow-up > 1 year) donor health by a widely recognized instrument for health assessment. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: Living-donor liver transplantation is an accepted technique for children that has recently been extended to adults. Limited donor outcomes data suggest favorable results, but no outcomes data have been reported using an instrument that elicits an anonymous response from the donor or employs a widely recognized health survey. METHODS: Forty-one living-donors between June 1992 and June 1999 were identified and included in this study, regardless of specific donor or recipient outcome. Each donor received a 68-question survey and a standard McMaster Health Index. RESULTS: Survey response was 80%. All donors were satisfied with the information provided to them before donation. Eighty-eight percent of donors initially learned of living donation only after their child had been diagnosed with liver disease: 44% through the transplant center, 40% by popular media, 12% by their pediatrician, and 4% by their primary care physician. Physical symptoms, including pain and the surgical wound, were recurrent items of concern. Perception of time to "complete" recovery were less than 3 months (74%), 3 to 6 months (16%), and more than 6 months (10%). Donors' return to physical activities was shown by above-mean McMaster physical scores; scores for social and emotional health were not different from population data. There were no reported changes in sexual function or menstruation after donation, and five of six donors procreated. CONCLUSIONS: Donors overwhelmingly endorsed living donation regardless of recipient outcome or the occurrence of a complication. Eighty-nine percent advocated "increased" application of living donation beyond "emergency situations," and no donor responded that living donation should be abandoned or that he or she felt "forced" to donate.