With the introduction of new hepatitis C medications in 2014 , there is a growing concern for an increase in the discard rate of hepatitis C deceased donor organs with the increased number of recipients treated while on the waiting list. We have examined data for Hepatitis C positive deceased liver donors collected by our organ procurement organization and compared two groups regarding discard rate. The first group included 2008-2013 liver donors and the second group included liver donors from 2014-2017.

Between 2008-2017 there was 96 donors positive for hepatitis C . We compared discard rate between the two groups ,we then adjusted for donor risk factors(Age,alcohol intake,hypertension) using logistic regression model. The discard rate appeared higher in 2008-2013 era (31.9%) compared to 2014-2017 (12.2%) (p value =0.03).

A subgroup analysis was performed to examine the placement of these donor organs whether local or shared.There was increased placement of hepatitis C donor regionally in the 2014-2017 group compared to the 2008-2013 group, (26% vs 13% p=0.1).

The discard rate in the era of new effective hepatitis C medication (2014-2017) appears to be less than the previous era, this could represent more comfort in transplanting these organs in the presence of an effective treatment.This might not be reflective yet of the effect of treating recipients on waiting list for hepatitis C as it might be too early to detect that effect; however, when we examined the placement of these organs it appeared that there is a rapid rise in the shared organs in the recent era 2014-2017, this might be explained by center variation in the treatment of hepatitis C positive recipients on the waiting list.

CITATION INFORMATION: Nazzal M., Marklin G., Okoye O., Kim Y., Ouseph R. A Comparison of the Discard Rate in Hepatitis C Deceased Liver Donors between Two Eras, 2008-2013 and 2014-2017. A Single Organ Procurement Organization Experience Am J Transplant. 2017;17 (suppl 3).

« Back to 2018 American Transplant Congress