Predictors of liver donation without kidney recovery in a cohort of expanded criteria donors: identifying opportunities to improve expanded criteria donor kidney utilization.

To maximize deceased donation, it is necessary to facilitate organ recovery from expanded criteria donors (ECDs). Utilization of donors meeting the kidney definition for ECDs increases access to kidney transplantation and reduces waiting times; however, ECDs often do not proceed to kidney recovery. Based on a prospective study of three Organ Procurement Organizations in the United States, we describe the characteristics of donors meeting the Organ Procurement and Transplant Network (OPTN) ECD kidney definition (donor age 60+ or donor age 50-60 years with two of the following: final serum creatinine > 1.5 mg/dL, history of hypertension, or death from cerebral vascular accident) who donated a liver without kidney recovery. ECDs with organs recovered between February 2003 and September 2005 by New England Organ Bank, Gift of Life Michigan, and LifeChoice Donor Services were studied (n = 324). All donors were declared dead by neurological criteria. Data on a wide range of donor characteristics were collected, including donor demographics, medical history, cause of death, donor status during hospitalization, serological status, and donor kidney quality. Logistic regression models were used to identify donor characteristics predictive of liver-alone donation. Seventy-four of the 324 donors fulfilling the ECD definition for kidneys donated a liver alone (23%). History of diabetes, final serum creatinine > 1.5 mg/dL, age 70+, and presence of proteinuria were associated with liver-alone donation in univariate models. On multivariate analysis, only final serum creatinine > 1.5 mg/dL and age 70+ were independently predictive of liver donation alone. Older age and elevated serum creatinine may be perceived as stronger contraindications to kidney donation than the remaining elements of the ECD definition. It is likely that at least a proportion of these liver-alone donors represent missed opportunities for kidney transplantation.