Long-term outcomes of the octogenarian donor liver recipient: The era of the new centurion

Background: Studies have suggested transplantation using older donor livers results in similar short-term outcomes as younger donor livers; however, little data exist on long-term patient/graft outcomes of the octogenarian liver recipient. Methods: Retrospective data were collected from 2 centers, (Valencia, Spain and Rochester, MN, USA) of all recipients of octogenarian donor liver allografts from 2000 to 2011 with follow-up to 2016. The aim was to compare long-term patient/graft survival as well as metabolic outcomes of the recipient with the octogenarian liver vs younger than 60 years donor. Results: 78 recipients of older liver allografts were compared to 78 matched controls. No difference in 10-year patient mortality was demonstrated (P = 0.074). Octogenarian livers were associated with 3-fold higher likelihood of graft failure (P = 0.002) but no increase in the risk of post-LT cardiovascular disease (P = 0.60), hypertension (P = 0.33), vascular complications (P = 0.53), or malignancy (P = 0.14). In multivariate analysis, elder livers remained a significant factor associated with rejection (P = 0.034) with a trend not reaching statistical significance for graft failure (P = 0.052). Conclusions: For appropriately selected recipients, receiving an octogenarian liver does not clearly influence patient survival but does impact early graft survival with a notable increase in early posttransplant rejection rates and re-transplantation. Over 1.5 decades, older allografts have not adversely affected metabolic outcomes.