Deceased donor liver transplantation under the Korean model for end-stage liver disease score-based liver allocation system: 2-year allocation results at a high-volume transplantation center

Hea-Seon Ha; Jung-Ja Hong; In-Ok Kim; Sae-Rom Lee; Ah-Young Lee; Tae-Yong Ha; Gi-Won Song; Dong-Hwan Jung; Gil-Chun Park; Chul-Soo Ahn; Deok-Bog Moon; Ki-Hun Kim; Sung-Gyu Lee; Shin Hwang

doi:10.4285/jkstn.2019.33.4.112

Deceased donor liver transplantation under the Korean model for end-stage liver disease score-based liver allocation system: 2-year allocation results at a high-volume transplantation center

Korean J Transplant. 2019 Dec 31;33(4):112-117. doi: 10.4285/jkstn.2019.33.4.112.

Authors

Hea-Seon Ha¹, Jung-Ja Hong¹, In-Ok Kim¹, Sae-Rom Lee¹, Ah-Young Lee¹, Tae-Yong Ha², Gi-Won Song², Dong-Hwan Jung², Gil-Chun Park², Chul-Soo Ahn², Deok-Bog Moon², Ki-Hun Kim², Sung-Gyu Lee², Shin Hwang^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Organ Transplantation Center, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
² Department of Surgery, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Abstract

Background: The Korean model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score-based liver allocation system was started in June 2016 in Korea.

Methods: This study analyzed the detailed allocation results of deceased donor liver transplantation (DDLT) during the first 2 years after the MELD score-based liver allocation system implementation at a high-volume liver transplantation (LT) center in Korea.

Results: This study included 174 patients with age above 12 years. The patient ABO blood groups were A (n=65, 37.4%), B (n=51, 29.3%), O (n=28, 16.1%), and AB (n=30, 17.2%). The LT types were primary LT in 141 patients (81.0%) and retransplantation in 33 (19.0%). The Korean Network for Organ Sharing status categories at LT were as follows: status 1 (n=11, 6.3%), status 2 (n=82, 47.1%), status 3 (n=63, 36.2%), and status 4 (n=18, 10.3%). The mean MELD score at LT and waiting period were 36.6±4.6 and 62.1±98.2 days in blood group A; 37.6±3.6 and 25.7±38.1 days in blood group B; 38.8±2.7 and 26.0±30.5 days in blood group O; and 34.8±5.5 and 68.4±110.5 days in blood group AB (P<0.001 and P=0.012), respectively. Patients with blood group O and AB had the highest and lowest mean MELD scores at LT allocation, respectively.

Conclusions: Serious deceased organ donor shortage resulted in very high MELD score cutoffs for DDLT allocation. Additionally, a significant inequality was observed in the possibility for DDLT according to blood group compatibility. Nationwide follow-up studies are necessary to precisely determine the allocation status of DDLT.

Keywords: ABO blood group; Deceased donor; Liver transplantation; Model for end-stage liver disease score; Waiting list.