Post-transplant biliary complications using liver grafts from deceased donors older than 70 years: Retrospective case-control study.

BACKGROUND: The shortage of liver grafts and subsequent waitlist mortality led us to expand the donor pool using liver grafts from older donors. AIM: To determine the incidence, outcomes, and risk factors for biliary complications (BC) in liver transplantation (LT) using liver grafts from donors aged > 70 years. METHODS: Between January 1994 and December 31, 2019, 297 LTs were performed using donors older than 70 years. After excluding 47 LT for several reasons, we divided 250 LTs into two groups, namely post-LT BC (n = 21) and without BC (n = 229). This retrospective case-control study compared both groups. RESULTS: Choledocho-choledochostomy without T-tube was the most frequent technique (76.2% in the BC group vs 92.6% in the non-BC group). Twenty-one patients (8.4%) developed BC (13 anastomotic strictures, 7 biliary leakages, and 1 non-anastomotic biliary stricture). Nine patients underwent percutaneous balloon dilation and nine required a Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy because of dilation failure. The incidence of post-LT complications (graft dysfunction, rejection, renal failure, and non-BC reoperations) was similar in both groups. There were no significant differences in the patient and graft survival between the groups. Moreover, only three deaths were attributed to BC. While female donors were protective factors for BC, donor cardiac arrest was a risk factor. CONCLUSION: The incidence of BC was relatively low on using liver grafts > 70 years. It could be managed in most cases by percutaneous dilation or Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy, without significant differences in the patient or graft survival between the groups.

Safe use of livers from deceased donors older than 70 years in recipients with HCV cirrhosis treated with direct-action antivirals. Retrospective cohort study.

INTRODUCTION: There is controversy regarding the use of older grafts for liver transplantation (LT) in HCV-infected patients, but the introduction of direct-acting antivirals (DAA) can radically change that debate. METHODS: The aim of this retrospective cohort study was to evaluate outcomes of the use of liver grafts from donors older than 70 years in recipients with HCV infection who underwent pre- or post-LT treatment with DAA. We compared two groups of patients who underwent LT using livers >70 years; the groups were defined according to antiviral therapy: non-DAA therapy group (n = 62; LT between May 1996 and December 2013), and DAA therapy group (n = 31; LT between January 2014 and December 2019). RESULTS: Thirty (96.8%) patients of DAA therapy and nine (14.5%) of non-DAA therapy (21 patients underwent complete therapy with interferon-ribavirin) achieved sustained viral response (SVR). One, 3-, and 5-year patient survival were 83.9%, 67.7%, and 56.5% in the non-DAA group vs 93.5%, 88.4%, and 88.4% in the DAA group (P = 0.04); the 1-, 3-, and 5-year graft survival were 77.4%, 62.9%, and 51.6% in the non-DAA group vs. 88.6%, 83.7%, and 83.7% in the DAA group (P = 0.03). Multivariate analysis demonstrated donor female sex and DAA therapy as protective factors of graft survival. CONCLUSIONS: Pre- or post-LT therapy with DAA in HCV-infected patients has achieved an almost overall SVR. The use of liver grafts >70 years in these patients treated with DAA was associated with significantly higher 5-year patient and graft survival in DAA group compared to non-DAA group. Thus, the introduction of DAA therapy has allowed the safe use of livers >70 years in HCV-positive recipients.

Using old liver grafts for liver transplantation: where are the limits?

The scarcity of ideal liver grafts for orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) has led transplant teams to investigate other sources of grafts in order to augment the donor liver pool. One way to get more liver grafts is to use marginal donors, a not well-defined group which includes mainly donors > 60 years, donors with hypernatremia or macrosteatosis > 30%, donors with hepatitis C virus or hepatitis B virus positive serologies, cold ischemia time > 12 h, non-heart-beating donors, and grafts from split-livers or living-related donations. Perhaps the most practical and frequent measure to increase the liver pool, and thus to reduce waiting list mortality, is to use older livers. In the past years the results of OLT with old livers have improved, mainly due to better selection and maintenance of donors, improvements in surgical techniques in donors and recipients, and intra- and post-OLT management. At the present time, sexagenarian livers are generally accepted, but there still exists some controversy regarding the use of septuagenarian and octogenarian liver grafts. The aim of this paper is to briefly review the aging process of the liver and reported experiences using old livers for OLT. Fundamentally, the series of septuagenarian and octogenarian livers will be addressed to see if there is a limit to using these aged grafts.