Alcohol abuse in deceased liver donors: impact on post-transplant outcomes

BackgroundMany deceased liver donors with a history of alcohol abuse are excluded based upon medical history alone. This paper summarizes the transplant outcomes for a large number of deceased liver donors with a documented history of alcohol abuse. MethodsThe records for 1478 consecutive deceased liver donors were reviewed (2001-2012). As per the United Network for Organ Sharing criteria, heavy alcohol use by an organ donor is defined as chronic intake of two or more drinks per day. Donors with a documented history of alcohol abuse were divided into three groups according to duration of abuse (<10years, 10-24years and 25+ years). Reperfusion biopsies are reported. Outcomes include biopsy appearance, early graft function and early and late graft survival. ResultsThere were 161 donors with alcohol abuse: <10years (29%); 10-24years (42%); and 25years (29%). Risk of 90-day graft loss for these three groups was: 0%, 3% and 2%, compared to 3% for all other donors (P=0.62). Graft survival at 1 year for donor grafts with and without alcohol abuse was 89% and 87% (P=0.52). There was no difference in early graft function. Cox proportional hazards modelling for graft survival demonstrates no statistically significant difference in survival up to 10years post-transplant. ConclusionsThis study demonstrates successful transplantation of a large number of deceased donor liver grafts from donors with a documented history of alcohol abuse (n=161; 11% of all grafts). These extended criteria donor allografts may, therefore, be utilized successfully with similar outcomes.