National Liver Allocation Policy-Consensus Document by the Liver Transplantation Society of India for a Nationally Uniform System of Allocation of Deceased Donor Liver Grafts.

BACKGROUND

Deceased donor liver transplantation (DDLT) is increasing in India and now constitutes nearly one-third of all liver transplantation procedures performed in the country. There is currently no uniform national system of allocation of deceased donor livers.

METHODS

A national task force consisting of 19 clinicians involved in liver transplantation from across the country was constituted under the aegis of the Liver Transplantation Society of India to develop a consensus document addressing the above issues using a modified Delphi process of consensus development.

RESULTS

The National Liver Allocation Policy consensus document includes 46 statements covering all aspects of DDLT, including minimum listing criteria, listing for acute liver failure, DDLT wait-list management, system of prioritisation based on clinical urgency for adults and children, guidelines for allocation of paediatric organs and allocation priorities for liver grafts recovered from public sector hospitals.

CONCLUSION

This document is the first step in the setting up of a nationally consistent policy of deceased donor liver allocation.