Patient and graft survival in hepatitis C recipients after adult living donor liver transplantation in the United States

End stage liver disease from chronic hepatitis C is the leading indication for liver transplantation in the United States. Small studies suggest that recurrent hepatitis C may be more common and occur earlier after living donor liver transplantation compared to deceased donor liver transplantation. The objective of our study was to analyze the United Network for Organ Sharing liver transplant database to compare patient and graft survival in recipients transplanted for chronic hepatitis C who received a living donor organ and deceased donor organ between 1999 and 2002. We identified 279 living donor recipients and 3,955 deceased donor recipients. Living donor recipients were less ill at the time of transplant, more likely to be female, and received grafts from younger donors. In the living donor group and deceased donor group, 1-year graft survival was 77% and 82%, respectively, and 2-year graft survival was 72% and 75%, respectively, P = .11. One-year patient survival was 87% in both groups and 2-year patient survival was 83% and 81% in the living donor group and deceased donor group, respectively, P = .68. Short-term patient and graft survival are similar between living donor and deceased donor liver transplant recipients with hepatitis C suggesting that recurrent hepatitis C does not seem to affect short-term outcomes.