Liver Transplantation from Brain-Dead Donors with Hepatitis B or C in South Korea: A 2014-2020 Korean Organ Transplantation Registry Data Analysis

• Published in: Annals of transplantation Vol. 29; p. e943588
• Main Authors: Park, Hoonsung, Lee, Hanyoung, Baik, Seungmin, Kim, Myoung Soo, Yang, Jaeseok, Jeong, Jong Cheol, Koo, Tai Yeon, Kim, Deok-Gie, Lee, Jae-Myeong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 21-05-2024
• Subjects: Adult; Brain Death; End Stage Liver Disease - surgery; Female; Graft Survival; Hepatitis B - surgery; Hepatitis C - surgery; Humans; Liver Transplantation - methods; Male; Middle Aged; Registries; Republic of Korea - epidemiology; Retrospective Studies; Tissue and Organ Procurement - methods; Tissue Donors; Republic of Korea
• ISSN: 2329-0358
• DOI: 10.12659/AOT.943588

BACKGROUND According to the current guidelines for liver transplantation (LT) of brain-dead donors with hepatitis B or C virus (HBV or HCV) in Korea, grafts from hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)(+) or HCV antibody (anti-HCV)(+) donors must be transplanted only to HBsAg(+) or anti-HCV(+) recipients, respectively. We aimed to determine the current status and outcomes of brain-dead donor LT with HBV or HCV in Korea. MATERIAL AND METHODS This retrospective observational study included all LTs from brain-dead donors in the Korean Organ Transplantation Registry between April 2014 and December 2020. According to donor hepatitis status, 24 HBV(+), 1 HCV(+), and 1010 HBV(-)/HCV(-) donors were included. RESULTS Baseline/final model for end-stage liver disease score (MELD) for HBV(+), HCV(+), and HBV(-)/HCV(-) were 22.4±9.3/27.8±7.8, 16/11, and 33.0±15.4/35.5±7.1, respectively. MELD score of HBV (+) were lower than those of HBV(-)/HCV(-) (P<0.01). Five-year graft and patient survival rates of HBV(+) and HBV(-)/HCV(-) recipients were 81.7%/85.6%, and 76.6%/76.7%, respectively (P=0.73 and P=0.038). One-year graft and patient survival rates of HCV (+) graft recipients were both 100%. CONCLUSIONS No differences in graft and patient survival rates between HBV(+) and HBV(-)/HCV(-) groups were observed. Although accumulating the results of transplants from HBV (+) or HCV(+) grafts to HBV(-) or HCV(-) recipients is not possible owing to domestic regulations, Korea should conditionally permit transplantations from HBV(+) or HCV(+) grafts to HBV(-) or HCV(-) recipients by considering the risks and benefits based on foreign studies. Thereafter, we can accumulate the data from Korea and analyze the outcomes.