What Constitutes an Extended Criteria Donor?
Specializing in liver disease and liver transplant surgery, Dr. Lewis Teperman is the director of the NYU Langone Medical Center’s Mary Lea Johnson Richards Organ Transplantation Center. The topic of extended criteria donor (ECD) transplantation is among his numerous clinical and research interests. A supporter of extended transplant possibilities, Dr. Lewis Teperman has served as an active member of the New York State Task Force on the Use of Extended Donors since 2004. Extended criteria for potential liver donors were created to address the growing disparity between the availability of transplantable livers and the number of patients in need of liver transplants. Although the criteria vary among transplant centers, they generally include the following risk factors: donors over 70 years of age, donors testing positive for Hepatitis C, donors with large deposits of fat in liver cells, and donors with significant medical histories. Although ECD livers are not as ideal as standard criteria donor (SCD) livers, survival rates are higher for patients who undergo ECD liver transplants than for those who remain on the transplant waiting list. Patients should discuss the possibility of ECD liver transplants with their surgeons and physicians to determine if it is a potentially effective treatment option.