Livers Are Resilient Organs, Have The Potential To Survive For More Than 100 Years: Study

New York, Oct 17 (IANS) Researchers said that subset of livers was transplanted with a cumulative age of more than 100 years. These livers identify characteristics to determine why these organs are so resilient, paving the way for considering the potential expanded use of older liver donors. A lead study author Yash Kadakia from the University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, said that livers are incredibly resilient organs. They use older donors with better surgical techniques and advances in immuno-suppression and have a matching of donor and recipient factors resulting in better outcomes.
The findings were given at the Scientific Forum of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Clinical Congress 2022 for the study. The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) STAR file identified livers with a cumulative age (total initial age at transplant plus post-transplant survival) of at least 100 years.
Of around 253,406 livers uprooted between 1990-2022, 25 livers met the criteria of being centurion's livers --those with a cumulative age over 100 years. Kadakia further added that they looked at pre-transplant survival -- essentially, the donor's age to know how long the liver went on to survive in the recipient. They stratified these remarkable livers with over 100-year survival and donor factors with recipient factors and transplant factors involved in creating this unique combination where the liver can live to 100 years.
 For these centurion's livers, the average donor age was significantly higher, 84.7 years, compared with 38.5 years for non-centurion liver transplants. The researchers noted that for a liver to have a lifespan of 100, they expected to find an older average donor age and healthier donors. The donors from the centurion group had a lower incidence of diabetes and fewer donor infections.