[Usage of marginal organs for liver transplantation: a way around the critical organ shortage?]

Abstract

The transplantation of marginal organs or those meeting the so-called extended donor criteria (EDC) is today a significant option to alleviate the low availability or organs and to increase the number of transplantation which in turn is -accompanied by a lower mortality among wait-ing-list patients. However such an extension of the spender pool carries the risks of an increased incidence of organ dysfuntions and a higher recipient mortality. This situation presents an ethical problem when marginal organs are accepted for transplantation because the anticipated mortality for the individual recipient cannot be determined. The transplantation of marginal organs from -donors with a high MELD score seems to be linked to a higher mortality. In particular, the combina-tions of high donor age and long ischaemic time or advanced donor age and hepatitis C infection in the recipient are definitively associated with a significantly poorer organ survival rate. In view of the serious lack of organs, efforts should be made, for example, by shortening of the is-chae-mic time and the development of therapeutic strategies, to improve the function and increase the number of usable marginal organs and thus to increase pool of donor organs. The refusal of marginal organs on the basis of individual EDC without consideration of the status of recipient does not seem to be adequate.