Comparison of results on the use of extended criteria liver doners for transplants in Espírito Santo

INTRODUCTION: liver Transplantation is currently the treatment of choice for several terminal liver diseases. Despite the increase in performed transplants, the waiting lists continue to increase. In order to expand the supply of organs, transplantation teams have started to use previously rejected livers for transplants because of an increased risk of unfavorable outcomes. OBJECTIVE: to evaluate the use of livers of expanded criterion donators. METHODS: retrospective study of medical records. The livers were classified as normal or expanded criteria. The groups were divided in low and high MELD. A multivariate analysis was performed through logistic regression. RESULTS: there was no statistical difference regarding early, late and global mortality between the groups. Decreased survival was observed in patients with high MELD (higher or equal to 20) when they received grafts from expanded criterion donators. The association between the occurrence of cardiorespiratory arrest and presence of elevated total bilirubin in donators was associated with higher mortality rates in expanded criterion livers. CONCLUSION: the overall results are similar, but expanded criteria liver donators was associated with higher mortality in patients with high MELD.