Hepatic steatosis in organ donors – disparity between surgery and histology?

Aims: In times of organ shortage, use of marginal cadaveric livers has become of increased importance to reduce pressing organ demand and increased death rates while awaiting donations. Indisputably, fatty change in donor livers is a risk factor for poor initial function after orthotropic transplantation. However, identifying and rejecting marginal from good donor livers is one of the most difficult surgical tasks. Unfortunately, a liver biopsy and rapid histological diagnosis is rarely performed to identify marginal livers. Methods: From 2005 to 2008, we investigated 31 livers of organ donors, which were explan…