title: Are hepatocellular carcinoma patients more likely to receive liver resection in regions with longer transplant wait times?
abstract: In areas with longer liver transplantation (LT) wait times, liver resection (LR) offers an appropriate alternative in selected patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We identified adults with HCC undergoing LT or LR from the United States Nationwide Inpatient Sample from 1998-2008. United Network for Organ Sharing regions were assigned lower rank indicating shorter wait time for patients with Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) scores of 19-24 or ≥ 25. We used multivariate adjusted analysis to assess the odds of LR versus LT comparing patients by region. Of 4,516 patients, 40% received LT and 60% received LR. When ranked by wait times for MELD 19-24, the 3rd, 8th, and 11th ranked regions had decreased odds of LR versus LT (region 3: odds ratio [OR] 0.3, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.2-0.6; region 8: OR 0.5, 95% CI 0.3-0.9; region 5: OR 0.3, 95% CI 0.2-0.6), whereas the 10th ranked region had increased odds (region 1: OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.1-3.4) compared with the region with the shortest wait time, region 10. When ranked by wait times for MELD ≥25, all regions except the 10th ranked region (region 5) had increased odds compared with the region with the shortest wait time, region 3 (OR 1.6-5.6; P < .001). Regional variations of LT versus LR are not completely explained by transplant wait times.
authors: Department of Surgery, University of California, San Diego, California.
authors: J E
authors: JE
authors: Anderson
authors: Department of Surgery, University of California, San Diego, California.
authors: A W
authors: AW
authors: Hemming
authors: Department of Surgery, University of California, San Diego, California.
authors: D C
authors: DC
authors: Chang
authors: Department of Surgery, University of California, San Diego, California.
authors: M A
authors: MA
authors: Talamini
authors: Department of Surgery, University of California, San Diego, California. Electronic address: kmekeel@ucsd.edu.
authors: K L
authors: KL
authors: Mekeel
mesh_terms: D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000601:surgery*; D058625:End Stage Liver Disease; D005260:Female; D005843:Geography; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D018579:Patient Selection; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014481:United States; D014850:Waiting Lists