title: Recipient-donor age matching in liver transplantation: a single-center experience.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to investigate whether donor age was a predictor of outcomes in liver transplantation, representing an independent risk factor as well as its impact related to recipient age-matching.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analyzed prospectively collected data from 221 adult liver transplantations performed from January 2006 to September 2009.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with recipients who received grafts from donors <60 years old, transplantation from older donors was associated with significantly higher rates of graft rejection (9.5% vs 3.5%; P = .05) and worse graft survival (P = .021). When comparing recipient and graft survivals according to age matching, we observed significantly worse values for age-mismatched (P values .029 and .037, respectively) versus age-matched patients. After adjusting for covariates in a multivariate model, age mismatch was an independent risk factor for patient death (hazard ratio [HR] 2.13, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1-4.17; P = .027) and graft loss (HR 3.86, 95% CI 1.02-15.47; P = .046).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of this study suggest to that optimized donor allocation takes into account both donor and recipient ages maximize survival of liver-transplanted patients.
authors.affiliation: Mediterranean Institute for Transplantation and Advanced Specialized Therapies/University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Italy, Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pagano
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Grosso
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vizzini
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Spada
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cintorino
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Malaguarnera
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Donati
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mistretta
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gridelli
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gruttadauria
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016031:Liver Transplantation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014019:Tissue Donors