Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Transplantation

Sharing of donated livers is not equal

The allocation and distribution of deceased donor livers for transplant remains intensely scrutinized because demand far exceeds supply. In the USA, distribution of organs is organized according to a local, regional and national sharing plan. Ongoing assessment of the characteristics and success of these arrangements is necessary to ensure the system is as equitable as possible.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Freeman, R. B. Jr et al. The new liver allocation system: moving toward evidence-based transplantation policy. Liver Transpl. 8, 851–858 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Wiesner, R. H., Freeman, R. B. & Mulligan, D. C. Liver transplantation for hepatocellular cancer: the impact of the MELD allocation policy. Gastroenterology 127 (Suppl. 1), S261–S267 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Lai, J. C., Roberts, J. P., Vittinghoff, E., Terrault, N. A. & Feng, S. Patient, center, and geographic characteristics of nationally placed livers. Am. J. Transplant. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-6143201103962.x.

  4. Schaubel, D. E., Sima, C. S., Goodrich, N. P., Feng, S. & Merion, R. M. The survival benefit of deceased donor liver transplantation as a function of candidate disease severity and donor quality. Am. J. Transplant. 8, 419–425 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Lai, J. C., Feng, S., Roberts, J. P. & Terrault, N. A. Gender differences in liver donor quality are predictive of graft loss. Am. J. Transplant. 11, 296–302 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Brandman, D. et al. Hepatic steatosis at 1 year is an additional predictor of subsequent fibrosis severity in liver transplant recipients with recurrent hepatitis C virus. Liver Transpl. 17, 1380–1386 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Feng, S. et al. Characteristics associated with liver graft failure: the concept of a donor risk index. Am. J. Transplant. 6, 783–790 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. US Department of Health and Human Services. Centers for Medicaid and Medicare: conditions for coverage of organ procurement organizations [online], (2006).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Freeman, R. Sharing of donated livers is not equal. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 9, 248–249 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrgastro.2012.69

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrgastro.2012.69

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing