title: Reuse of liver grafts following the brain death of the initial recipient.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine if there is a reasonable prospect of success of a re-use liver transplantation.
  
  
  METHODS
  We systematically searched for reports of liver graft re-use using electronic searches of PubMed and Web of Knowledge. We performed hand searches of references lists of articles reporting re-use of grafts.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A systematic review of the literature reveals 28 liver transplantations using previously transplanted grafts. First and second recipients ranged in age from 4 to 72 years and 29 to 62 years respectively. Liver disease in the first recipient was varied including 5 (18%) patients with fulminant liver failure who died subsequently of cerebral edema. The second transplantation was performed after a median interval of 5 d (one day-13 years). Viral hepatitis was present in 3 (11%) of the initial recipients and in 8 (29%) of final recipients. Hepatocellular carcinoma was present in 6 (21%) of the final recipients. Early survival after the final transplantation was 93%, whereas long-term survival was 78% with a mean follow-up of 23.3 (3-120) mo.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Outcomes of transplantation using previously transplanted grafts in this select population are similar to those seen with conventional grafts.
authors.affiliation: Hideaki Tanaka, Vivian C McAlister, Mark A Levstik, Cameron N Ghent, Paul J Marotta, Douglas Quan, William J WalL, Multi-Organ Transplant Program, London Health Sciences Centre, London, Ontario N6A 5A5, Canada.
authors.forename: Hideaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.affiliation: Hideaki Tanaka, Vivian C McAlister, Mark A Levstik, Cameron N Ghent, Paul J Marotta, Douglas Quan, William J WalL, Multi-Organ Transplant Program, London Health Sciences Centre, London, Ontario N6A 5A5, Canada.
authors.forename: Vivian C
authors.initials: VC
authors.lastname: McAlister
authors.affiliation: Hideaki Tanaka, Vivian C McAlister, Mark A Levstik, Cameron N Ghent, Paul J Marotta, Douglas Quan, William J WalL, Multi-Organ Transplant Program, London Health Sciences Centre, London, Ontario N6A 5A5, Canada.
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Levstik
authors.affiliation: Hideaki Tanaka, Vivian C McAlister, Mark A Levstik, Cameron N Ghent, Paul J Marotta, Douglas Quan, William J WalL, Multi-Organ Transplant Program, London Health Sciences Centre, London, Ontario N6A 5A5, Canada.
authors.forename: Cameron N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Ghent
authors.affiliation: Hideaki Tanaka, Vivian C McAlister, Mark A Levstik, Cameron N Ghent, Paul J Marotta, Douglas Quan, William J WalL, Multi-Organ Transplant Program, London Health Sciences Centre, London, Ontario N6A 5A5, Canada.
authors.forename: Paul J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Marotta
authors.affiliation: Hideaki Tanaka, Vivian C McAlister, Mark A Levstik, Cameron N Ghent, Paul J Marotta, Douglas Quan, William J WalL, Multi-Organ Transplant Program, London Health Sciences Centre, London, Ontario N6A 5A5, Canada.
authors.forename: Douglas
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Quan
authors.affiliation: Hideaki Tanaka, Vivian C McAlister, Mark A Levstik, Cameron N Ghent, Paul J Marotta, Douglas Quan, William J WalL, Multi-Organ Transplant Program, London Health Sciences Centre, London, Ontario N6A 5A5, Canada.
authors.forename: William J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Wall
keywords: Brain death; Liver graft; Liver transplantation; Reuse