ANN ARBOR, Mich.— The risk for kidney failure among liver transplant recipients is higher following the implementation of Model of End Stage Liver Disease (MELD), a policy change in 2002 that altered how liver transplant allocation is decided, according to University of Michigan Health System researchers.
The study, led by Pratima Sharma, MD, M.S., an assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, examined the effect of MELD score-based allocation on post-liver transplant kidney failure. MELD, which was introduced in 2002, is a scoring system that evaluates liver disease severity and has since become the basis for deciding which patients receive liver transplants.
The researchers found that the risk of developing post-transplant kidney failure among liver transplant recipients has increased by 15 percent in the MELD era compared to pre-MELD era. The findings were featured in the November 2011 issue of the American Journal of Transplantation.
“We’re not aware of any prior study that has evaluated the impact of MELD-based liver allocation on the risk of new-onset post-transplant kidney failure," said Sharma. “These findings identify risk factors that could help prevent new-onset end stage renal failure in liver-transplant recipients."
