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AASLD ABSTRACTS

1 MELD Inflation: The Current Hepatocellular Carcinoma Exception Policy is Primarily Responsible for Steadily Increasing MELD Scores at the Time of Liver Transplant in All Regions of the U.S Patrick G. Northup, Nicolas M. Intagliata, Neeral L. Shah, Curtis K. Argo; Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA

With large increases in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) diagnoses in recent years and advances in HCC locoregional therapies, more HCC patients are awaiting liver transplantation than ever before. It was the aim of this study to determine if HCC exceptions are related to the increase in MELD scores on the U.S. liver transplant waiting list. Methods: Data from all adult, non-status one, initial transplant candidates who were listed for liver transplantation between January 2005 and December 2012 were analyzed. Because of significant changes in HCC exceptions from 2002-2004, these years were excluded from the analysis. Yearly trends in waiting list characteristics and transplantation rates were analyzed for statistical association with MELD exceptions, especially HCC exceptions, using multivariate generalized linear modeling . Regional variations in these associations were also analyzed. Results: During the study period there was a significant difference between the mean initial laboratory MELD score for candidates with any MELD exception (11.5) and no exception (18.3), p

Abstracts of the 64th Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases: the Liver Meeting 2013. November 1-2, 2013. Washington, D.C., USA.

Abstracts of the 64th Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases: the Liver Meeting 2013. November 1-2, 2013. Washington, D.C., USA. - PDF Download Free
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