Impact of live donor age (>or=50) on liver transplantation.
BACKGROUND
The question of whether donor age negatively impacts recipient outcome in adult-to-adult living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) is rarely discussed. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of older donor age (50 years or older) on recipient outcomes in adult-to-adult LDLT.


METHODS
LDLT data were retrospectively evaluated from our 299 LDLT cases in 297 recipients, which were divided into 2 groups: a younger group (group Y, donor age<50, n=237) and an older group (Group O, donor age>or=50, n=62). Clinical parameters of both recipients and donors were comparable between groups.


RESULTS
There was no difference between the groups in patient survival or postoperative complications of either donors or recipients. In recipients, graft regeneration was significantly impaired in Group O. Graft function, including protein synthesis and cholestasis, was comparable between the 2 groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Although the regeneration capacity of aged grafts was impaired, the function of grafts from older donors was comparable to that of those from younger donors. There was no difference in the clinical outcomes between the groups.
Akamatsu
N
N
Artificial Organ and Transplantation Division, Department of Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Japan.
Sugawara
Y
Y
Tamura
S
S
Kaneko
J
J
Matsui
Y
Y
Togashi
J
J
Makuuchi
M
M
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D006801:Humans; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000145:classification / Q000601:surgery; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000401:mortality / Q000502:physiology*; D019520:Living Donors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D018579:Patient Selection; D012086:Reoperation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome