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Competition in liver transplantation: Helpful or harmful?
Author(s) -
Saidi Reza F.,
Razavi Moaven,
Cosimi A. Benedict,
Ko Dicken S. C.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
liver transplantation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.814
H-Index - 150
eISSN - 1527-6473
pISSN - 1527-6465
DOI - 10.1002/lt.24039
Subject(s) - economic shortage , medicine , liver transplantation , competition (biology) , listing (finance) , transplantation , conformity , scarcity , intensive care medicine , surgery , business , finance , political science , economics , law , ecology , linguistics , philosophy , government (linguistics) , biology , microeconomics
Improved outcomes of liver transplantation have led to increases in the numbers of US transplant centers and candidates on the list. The resultant and ever‐expanding organ shortage has created competition among centers, especially in regions with multiple liver transplant programs. Multiple reports now document that competition among the country's transplant centers has led to the listing of increasingly high‐risk patients and the utilization of more marginal liver allografts. The transplant and medical communities at large should carefully re‐evaluate these practices and promote innovative approaches to restoring trust in the allocation of donor organs and confirming that there is nationwide conformity in the guidelines used for evaluating and listing potential candidates for this scarce resource. Liver Transpl 21:145‐150, 2015 . © 2014 AASLD.