Published online Sep 27, 2022. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v14.i9.1757
Peer-review started: May 5, 2022
First decision: June 8, 2022
Revised: June 17, 2022
Accepted: September 8, 2022
Article in press: September 8, 2022
Published online: September 27, 2022
Positive pre-transplant autoantibodies in donors are common and of unclear significance. There is a lack of data on the significance of positive donor autoantibodies on post-transplant outcomes in living liver donor transplantations.
The donor pool for liver transplantations remains limited and living liver donors help bridge the gap. It is therefore important to know whether positive autoantibodies in living donors have an effect on post-transplant outcomes and whether they should pose a barrier to transplantation.
The objective of this study was to analyze the significance of positive autoantibodies in donors on post-transplant outcomes and complications in recipients including rates of mortality, mortality, biliary strictures, biliary leaks, infection, and rejection.
This retrospective study included all patients above the age of 18 who underwent living liver donor transplantations at our center over a nine-year period (2012-20201). Demographic data and auto
Positive autoantibodies commonly associated with liver disease in donors were not correlated to higher rates of post-transplantation complications.
Our results expand upon existing literature suggesting that autoantibody positivity in asymptomatic donors is not correlated to worse transplant outcomes and should not preclude donation in living donor liver transplantations.
Larger prospective studies with longer lengths of follow-up are needed to identify whether these results can be broadly applied to a wider population and whether other factors such as ethnicity or soci