The study, titled “An Examination of Liver Offers to Candidates on the Liver Transplant Wait-List,” was published in Gastroenterology, the journal of the American Gastroenterological Association.
“Our findings suggest that waitlist deaths are not simply due to lack of donor organs, as many of us assume,” said John P. Roberts, MD, of the University of California San Francisco and lead author of this study, in the release. “Rather, deaths result from opportunities for transplantation that were declined. Efforts should also be made to reduce the stigma associated with non-ideal livers and set realistic expectations for waitlisted candidates.”
In a related editorial published in Gastroenterology, titled “Declined Organ Offers in Liver Transplantation: Careful Timing or Missed Opportunity?,” two physicians argue state that the results of this study indicate a need to provide better information to patients about organ offers and engage them in deciding whether to accept or decline such offers.
For the study, researchers analyzed data on U.S. liver transplantation candidates who were offered livers from early 2005 to early 2010.
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