Marked decrease in urgent listing for liver transplantation over time: evolution of characteristics and outcomes of Status-1 liver transplantation.

Background: Approximately 5% of liver transplants annually are performed urgently with "status-1" designation. This study aims to determine if the demand, characteristics and outcome for status-1 liver transplantation has changed over time. Methods: We utilized the Scientific Registry of Transplant Patients (2003-2015) to characterize 2352 adult patients who underwent 2408 status-1 liver transplants and compared them between Era1 (2003-6/2009) and Era2 (7/2009 -2015). Results: Overall, there were fewer liver transplants performed with the Status-1 designation in Era2 than Era1 (1099 vs 1309). Although the number of urgent liver transplants was relatively constant with successive years, the proportion transplanted with Status-1 designation decreased markedly over time. Era2 patients were older (43.2 vs 41.7 years, p=0.01) and less likely be ABO-incompatible (1.1% vs 2.4%, p=0.01) or re-transplant (77 vs 124, p=0.03). In terms of disease etiology, the largest group was "ALF, nonspecified" (43.4%). There was no difference in proportion with drug-induced liver injury (DILI), but the subset of herbal/dietary supplements increased in Era2 (1.3% vs 0.46 %, p=0.04). Survival was increased in Era2 in the overall cohort and for patients with autoimmune disease (p

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