Is Age Really Just a Number? A Comparison of Outcomes in Intestinal Transplant Recipients <50 and ≥50 Years Old

Background: Visceral transplantation (VT) has been performed at Sahlgrenska University Hospital since 1998.A major challenge is to find suitable grafts, particularly for children (<18 years old) and smaller recipients.We have previously reported that mortality on the waiting list (WL) is high (Varkey, J. et al. 2013).To increase awareness, a joint Nordic WL was implemented in 2010.In this study, we aim to evaluate WL dynamics and WL mortality after the introduction of a joint WL within the Nordic Countries for patients awaiting for visceral graft.Methods: Retrospective study with data from Scandiatransplant focusing on the time from January 2011 to January 2025.Variables studied: WL time, mortality on WL, number of imported grafts, cold ischemia time (CIT), donor age and donor to recipient body weight ratio.Results: Since 2011, 22 VT were performed and median time on the WL was 189 days compared to 207 days (table 1).The WL time decreased more for pediatric patients (700d vs 367d), compared to adults (87d vs 130d).In total, 36 % of the grafts after 2010 were imported, with no observed differences in CIT between imported/non-imported grafts.However, there is a difference of CIT in total between the time eras.There were no mortalities on the waiting list after 2010.Conclusions: Collaboration through a joint Nordic WL seems to increase chances of VT, at least for the pediatric population.Additionally, there is no mortality on the WL.Although further efforts are still needed to reduce WL time.