Outcomes of sexagenarian living liver donors in Korea: A multicenter study

Abstract

The safety of elderly living liver donors and recipient outcomes are always of concern. In the present study, the effects of age in 2 donor groups, a 60+years old group and a 50–59 years old group (referred to as the 60s and 50s donor groups, respectively), on living donor liver transplantation were compared regarding donor safety and recipient outcomes. We retrospectively identified 209 patients 50 years and above of age at 9 centers from 2005 to 2017 in Korea. The 60s donor group represented 10% (n=21) of donor patients. One case in each group was a left liver graft, respectively, and the others were right liver grafts. Postoperative complications were more common in the 60s donor group, but the proportion of Clavien-Dindo grade III in the 60s donor group did not differ from that in the 50s donor group. In-hospital mortality did not occur among donors, and donor mortality was not reported during the observation period. Postoperative total bilirubin and hospitalization in recipients of the 60s donor group were higher and longer than in recipients of the 50s donor group, respectively. Although the cumulative overall survival of the recipients in the 60s donor group was significantly lower than that of the 50s donor group, a difference was not observed in graft survival. Multivariate analysis showed that increased living liver donors age, the coexistence of HCC, and increased intraoperative blood loss during the recipient operation were important predisposing factors for patient death. Present study suggests that highly selected elderly living donors (≥60 y) can safely donate with similar recipient graft survival rates though the recipient overall patient survival is inferior compared to the 50s donor group.