NurseWeek

UNOS reviews scoring system for pediatric liver transplants

By Michelle Paolucci
July 30, 2000


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Los Angeles. The United Network for Organ Sharing Liver Committee is considering a separate severity scoring system for children to help determine the urgency of a liver transplant.

In June, the UNOS Board of Directors approved prioritizing pediatric donor livers for transplant recipients younger than 18.

"Under the old policy, pediatric livers might have gone to a smaller adult with a similar urgent status before it went to a pediatric patient. But the status of a pediatric patient cannot be compared fairly with that of an adult’s, because a pediatric patient is still developing and has different needs than an adult," said Debi Surlas, RN, vice chair of the UNOS patient affairs committee.

In studies of children receiving pediatric donor livers, recovery also was better, Surlas said. "They just do better with livers of pediatric donors," she said.

The new policy will reduce waiting time and increase survival among pediatric patients without compromising the survival and waiting time of adult patients, the board’s report said.

"More livers were being distributed according to body size before, whether or not the patient receiving the organ was under age 18. We have to be careful we don’t discriminate against pediatric statuses," Surlas said.