Preservation solutions for static cold storage in donation after circulatory death and donation after brain death liver transplantation in the United States

Static cold preservation remains the cornerstone for storing donor livers following procurement; however, the choice between University of Wisconsin solution (UW) and histidine-tryptophan-ketoglutarate solution (HTK) remains controversial. Recent International Liver Transplantation Society (ILTS) guidelines have recommended avoiding HTK for donation after circulatory death (DCD) grafts based on older reports. We studied the latest US adult graft outcomes in three recent eras (2006-2010, 2011-2015, 2016-2020) comparing HTK and UW among 5956 DCD LTs: 3873 (65.0%) used UW and 1944 (32.7%) used HTK. In a total of 82,679 donation after brain death (DBD) liver transplantations (LTs), 63,511 (76.8%) used UW and 15,855 (19.2%) used HTK. The HTK group had higher 1-year and 5-year graft survival rates of 89.7% and 74.3%, respectively, compared with 85.9% and 70.8% in the UW group in the 2016-2020 era (p = 0.005). This difference remained when adjusted for important potential confounders (hazard ratio, 0.78; 95% confidence interval: 0.60, 0.99). There were no differences between groups among DCD LTs in the earlier eras or among DBD LTs in all eras (all p values > 0.05). The latest US data suggest that HTK is at least noninferior to UW for preserving DCD livers. These data support HTK use in DCD LT and contradict ILTS guidance.

Automated summary

Static cold preservation is crucial for storing donor livers, and there is an ongoing debate about whether to use University of Wisconsin solution (UW) or histidine-tryptophan-ketoglutarate solution (HTK) in this process. Recent data from the US suggest that HTK is at least equal to UW in preserving livers from donation after circulatory death (DCD).