As we scan the list of patients waiting for liver transplants during our weekly team meeting, we deliberate the ongoing problem of donor organ availability. The demand for organs greatly exceeds the supply, limiting the number of transplants performed. Only half of the 14,000 patients on the national transplant list actually received a liver in 2016.[1] As our discussion shifts to the controversial option of using hepatitis C virus (HCV)-positive donor organs, we wonder whether this could bridge the gap between supply and demand.
Many of the HCV-positive donor organs are from drug overdose deaths, which have increased from 7 to 21 per 100,000 persons between 1999 and 2016.[2,3] But if these potential donors otherwise meet the standard criteria for donation, this could dramatically tilt the supply-demand balance. The use of these organs might not only expand the donor pool for our patients but also affect waitlist mortality.
Game-Changing Antivirals
The Public Health Service established criteria to identify increased risk donors to reduce the unintended transmission of infectious diseases, such as HCV, through organ transplantation.[4]This allows transplant centers to lessen the risk for transmission and also to ensure the appropriate treatment of recipients in the event of posttransplant infection. However, broader acceptance of these organs (including those from drug overdose-related deaths) could substantially improve transplant rates.
Medscape Gastroenterology © 2019 WebMD, LLC
Any views expressed above are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of WebMD or Medscape.
Cite this: Discarded No More: HCV-Infected Organs Advance Transplantation - Medscape - May 03, 2019.
Hepatitis C
Chronic Hepatitis C Pathology
Cutaneous Manifestations of Hepatitis C
COMMENTARY
Discarded No More: HCV-Infected Organs Advance Transplantation
William F. Balistreri, MD
DisclosuresMay 03, 2019
As we scan the list of patients waiting for liver transplants during our weekly team meeting, we deliberate the ongoing problem of donor organ availability. The demand for organs greatly exceeds the supply, limiting the number of transplants performed. Only half of the 14,000 patients on the national transplant list actually received a liver in 2016.[1] As our discussion shifts to the controversial option of using hepatitis C virus (HCV)-positive donor organs, we wonder whether this could bridge the gap between supply and demand.
Many of the HCV-positive donor organs are from drug overdose deaths, which have increased from 7 to 21 per 100,000 persons between 1999 and 2016.[2,3] But if these potential donors otherwise meet the standard criteria for donation, this could dramatically tilt the supply-demand balance. The use of these organs might not only expand the donor pool for our patients but also affect waitlist mortality.
Game-Changing Antivirals
The Public Health Service established criteria to identify increased risk donors to reduce the unintended transmission of infectious diseases, such as HCV, through organ transplantation.[4]This allows transplant centers to lessen the risk for transmission and also to ensure the appropriate treatment of recipients in the event of posttransplant infection. However, broader acceptance of these organs (including those from drug overdose-related deaths) could substantially improve transplant rates.
Medscape Gastroenterology © 2019 WebMD, LLC
Any views expressed above are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of WebMD or Medscape.
Cite this: Discarded No More: HCV-Infected Organs Advance Transplantation - Medscape - May 03, 2019.
Tables
References
Authors and Disclosures
Authors and Disclosures
Author
William F. Balistreri, MD
Department of Hepatology & Nutrition, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
Disclosure: William F. Balistreri, MD, has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.