Long-Term Outcomes of Donation After Circulatory Death Liver Transplantation in Paediatric Recipients: A 20-Year Single-Center Experience

Background/Objectives: Donation after circulatory death (DCD) grafts represent an increasingly important source of donor organs for paediatric liver transplantation; however, long-term outcomes remain incompletely defined. We aimed to evaluate long-term patient and graft survival, and post-transplant complications following paediatric DCD liver transplantation over a 20-year period.

Methods

We performed a retrospective single-center study of paediatric recipients (<18 years) who underwent liver transplantation using DCD grafts at King’s College Hospital between 2002 and 2023. Donor selection was based on favourable graft appearance and minimization of functional warm ischaemic time. Patient and graft survival were analysed using Kaplan–Meier methods and post-transplant complications were assessed.