The changing epidemiology of adult liver transplantation in the United States in 2013-2022: The dominance of metabolic dysfunction–associated steatotic liver disease and alcohol-associated liver disease

Abstract

Background: The high prevalence of obesity in the United States drives the burden of NASH, recently renamed as metabolic dysfunction–associated steatohepatitis (MASH). We assessed the most recent trends in liver transplantation in the United States. Methods: The Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR 2013-2022) was used to select adult (18 years or above) candidates who underwent liver transplant. Results: There were 116,292 candidates who underwent liver transplant with known etiology of chronic liver disease. In candidates without HCC, the most common etiology was alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD), increasing from 23% (2013) to 48% (2022), followed by NASH/MASH, which increased from 19% to 27%; the rates of viral hepatitis decreased (chronic hepatitis C: 28%–4%; chronic hepatitis B: 1.8%–1.1%) (all trend p<0.01). The proportion of HCC decreased from 25% (2013–2016) to 17% (2021-2022). Among HCC cohort, the proportion of chronic hepatitis C decreased from 60% (2013) to 27% (2022), NASH/MASH increased from 10% to 31%, alcohol-associated liver disease increased from 9% to 24% (trend p<0.0001), and chronic hepatitis B remained stable between 5% and 7% (trend p=0.62). The rapid increase in the proportion of NASH/MASH in HCC continued during the most recent study years [20% (2018), 28% (2020), 31% (2022)]; the trend remained significant after adjustment for age, sex, ethnicity, obesity, and type 2 diabetes. Conclusions: Liver transplant etiologies in the United States have changed over the last decade. Alcohol-associated liver disease and NASH/MASH remain the 2 most common indications for transplantation among those without HCC, and NASH/MASH is the most common in patients with HCC.