Suspect the donor with potential infection in the adult deceased donor liver transplantation.

Introduction: Liver transplantation is the treatment of choice for end-stage liver disease. However, the shortage of donors is still the major problem in most Asian countries. Using extended donor criteria may maximize the deceased donor pool, but some high-risk donors may show adverse recipient outcomes due to preexisting infection.

Materials And Methods: This study included deceased donor liver transplant patients from June 2002 through June 2007. We retrospectively reviewed the clinical manifestations of donors and recipients. The donors showed no definite infection at the time the organs were matched to the recipients. Routine sputum, urine, blood, and bile cultures were obtained from the donor during the perioperative period. According to the final reports of the cultures, the recipients divided into two groups: donor infection (DI) and no donor infection (NDI).

Results: This study included 59 donor and 72 recipients, including 34 who received a graft from a donor with a positive culture (47.2%) finally, defined as the DI groups, and 38 recipients (52.8%) as the NDI group. Most of them had positive sputum cultures, followed by urine cultures. Staphylococcus aureus was the most common pathogen. Using a stepwise logistical regression model to analyze the significant donor characteristics, donor admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) for 7 days or longer (P < or = .0001), previous cardiopulmonary cerebral resuscitation (CPCR) (P = .036), and inotropic agents (P = .022) were the only three independent factors to predict donor infection. To compare the outcomes between DI and NDI groups, the days of recipient ICU or hospital admission, the 1-week or 1-month mortality rate, and the overall survival showed no significant difference between both groups. However, the hospital mortality rate was mildly higher in the DI group (P = .050).

Conclusion: Donors with prolonged ICU admissions, rescue by CPCR, and use of inotropic agents carried an high risk of potential infections. Our data did not show a significant increase in adverse outcomes if the recipient received a graft from a potentially infected donor. However, there may be an increased risk of hospital mortality. We should be careful in using these potentially infected donors in selective recipients.