The obesity epidemic threatens the available pool of donor organs for liver transplantation, including for living donor liver transplantation (LDLT), owing to the negative effects of fatty liver. Whether obesity in donor individuals in the absence of liver steatosis affects outcomes was unknown. The outcome of LDLT using donors with a BMI <30 kg/m2 (n = 364) versus BMI ≥30 kg/m2 (n = 105) was compared; individuals with obesity were excluded as donors if liver steatosis was >10% and no donors had other comorbidities. Donor groups had similar postoperative complication rates and length of hospital stay. Crucially, recipient graft function was identical irrespective of donor BMI, and no differences in recipient's complication rates or length of hospital stay were observed. The investigators concluded that a donor BMI of ≥30 kg/m2 in the absence of graft steatosis is not a contraindication for LDLT.
References
Knaak, M. et al. A donor body mass index greater than 30 is not a contraindication for live liver donation. Am. J. Transplant. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ajt.14019 (2016)
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Ray, K. Donor BMI >30 not a contraindication for LDLT. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 13, 558 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrgastro.2016.151
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrgastro.2016.151