Initial Poor Function and Primary Nonfunction in Deceased-Donor Orthotopic Liver Transplantation Maintaining Short Cold Ischemic Time.

BACKGROUND: Nations with emerging deceased-donor liver transplantation programs, such as India, face problems associated with poor donor maintenance. Cold ischemic time (CIT) is typically maintained short by matching donor organ recovery and recipient hepatectomy to achieve maximum favorable outcome. We analyzed different extended criteria donor factors including donor acidosis, which may act as a surrogate marker of poor donor maintenance, to quantify the risk of primary nonfunction (PNF) or initial poor function (IPF).

METHODS: A single-center retrospective outcome analysis of prospectively collected data of patients undergoing deceased-donor liver transplantation over 2 years to determine the impact of different extended criteria donor factors on IPF and PNF.

RESULTS: From March 2013 to February 2015, a total of 84 patients underwent deceased-donor liver transplantation. None developed PNF. Thirteen (15.5%) patients developed IPF. Graft macrosteatosis and donor acidosis were only related to IPF ( P = .002 and P = .032, respectively). Cold ischemic time was maintained short (81 cases ≤8 hours, maximum 11 hours) in all cases.

CONCLUSION: Poor donor maintenance as evidenced by donor acidosis and graft macrosteatosis had significant impact in developing IPF when CIT is kept short. Similar study with larger sample size is required to establish extended criteria cutoff values.