Liver transplantation from donors following medical assistance in dying: a scoping review and retrospective cohort study

BACKGROUND: Liver transplantation from donors following medical assistance in dying (MAiD) is a novel practice with emerging Canadian outcomes data. We sought to compare donor and recipient outcomes after liver transplantation following donor MAiD, circulatory death (DCD), or brain death (DBD). METHODS: We conducted a scoping review and a single-centre retrospective cohort study. RESULTS: = 0.7), Cox regression identified portal vein thrombosis (hazard ratio [HR] 23.98, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.41 to 238.15), hepatic artery thrombosis (HR 8.14, 95% CI 1.72 to 38.54), and biliary complications (HR 11.93; 95% CI 2.31 to 61.76) as independent predictors of graft loss. CONCLUSION: Liver transplantation from donors who underwent MAiD was not associated with higher graft loss or mortality than in those who underwent DCD or DBD. Its continued use is safe, and larger multicentre studies are warranted for validation.