BACKGROUND: An important long-term consideration for living-donor liver transplantation (LDLT) is the expense compared with cadaveric-liver transplantation. LDLT is a more complex procedure than cadaveric transplantation and the cost of donor evaluation, donor surgery, and postoperative donor care must be included in a cost analysis for LDLT. In this study, we compare the comprehensive cost of LDLT with that of cadaveric-liver transplantation. METHODS: All costs for medical services provided at our institution were recorded for 24 LDLT and 43 cadaveric recipients with greater than 1 year follow-up transplanted between August 1997 and April 2000. The donor costs include donors evaluated and rejected, donors evaluated and accepted, donor right hepatectomy costs, and donor follow-up costs (365 days postdonation). LDLT and cadaveric recipient costs include medical care 90 days pre-LDLT, recipient transplant costs, and recipient follow-up costs (365 days posttransplant) including retransplantation. Cost is expressed as an arbitrary cost unit (CU) that is a value between $500 to $1,500. RESULTS: Total LDLT costs (evaluations of rejected donors+evaluations of accepted donors+donor hepatectomy+donor follow-up care for 1 year+pretransplant recipient care [90 days pretransplant]+recipient transplantation+recipient 1-year posttransplant care)= 162.7 CU. Total mean cadaveric transplant costs (pretransplant recipient care [90 days pretransplant]+recipient transplantation [including organ acquisition cost]+recipient 1-year posttransplant care)= 134.5 CU, (P =ns). CONCLUSIONS: The total comprehensive cost of LDLT is 21% higher than cadaveric transplantation, although this difference is not significant.
BACKGROUND: An important long-term consideration for living-donor liver transplantation (LDLT) is the expense compared with cadaveric-liver transplantation. LDLT is a more complex procedure than cadaveric transplantation and the cost of donor evaluation, donor surgery, and postoperative donor care must be included in a cost analysis for LDLT. In this study, we compare the comprehensive cost of LDLT with that of cadaveric-liver transplantation. METHODS: All costs for medical services provided at our institution were recorded for 24 LDLT and 43 cadaveric recipients with greater than 1 year follow-up transplanted between August 1997 and April 2000. The donor costs include donors evaluated and rejected, donors evaluated and accepted, donor right hepatectomy costs, and donor follow-up costs (365 days postdonation). LDLT and cadaveric recipient costs include medical care 90 days pre-LDLT, recipient transplant costs, and recipient follow-up costs (365 days posttransplant) including retransplantation. Cost is expressed as an arbitrary cost unit (CU) that is a value between $500 to $1,500. RESULTS: Total LDLT costs (evaluations of rejected donors+evaluations of accepted donors+donor hepatectomy+donor follow-up care for 1 year+pretransplant recipient care [90 days pretransplant]+recipient transplantation+recipient 1-year posttransplant care)= 162.7 CU. Total mean cadaveric transplant costs (pretransplant recipient care [90 days pretransplant]+recipient transplantation [including organ acquisition cost]+recipient 1-year posttransplant care)= 134.5 CU, (P =ns). CONCLUSIONS: The total comprehensive cost of LDLT is 21% higher than cadaveric transplantation, although this difference is not significant.
Authors: Gaya Spolverato; Alessandro Vitale; Aslam Ejaz; Yuhree Kim; Shishir K Maithel; David P Cosgrove; Timothy M Pawlik Journal: World J Surg Date: 2015-06 Impact factor: 3.352
Authors: Patrick G Northup; Michael M Abecassis; Michael J Englesbe; Jean C Emond; Vanessa D Lee; George J Stukenborg; Lan Tong; Carl L Berg Journal: Liver Transpl Date: 2009-02 Impact factor: 5.799