Research: Some African American liver recipients fare better with organ from black donor

The Advocate, Baton Rouge | Laura Ricks

Black patients with Hepatitis C who receive liver transplants fare better if they received the organ from black donors, new research from Tulane University and the University of California at San Francisco has found.

Dr. Nathan Shores, assistant professor of clinical medicine at Tulane School of Medicine, and other researchers followed 1,766 black patients with Hepatitis C who received liver transplants over a seven-year period. In a break from previous findings, the team found that transplants proved more successful if the donors were black as well.

The benefits were so significant that researchers found matching race in these particular cases mitigated the affect of age, allowing doctors more leeway in using organs from older donors. Both results could have significant ramifications for black liver patients and the organ donation community.

“This inverts a landmark 2006 study that said organs from African-Americans did less well in recipients than those from young Caucasians,” said Shores, whose study will soon be published in Hepatology. “This study shows that they do quite well in certain patients and sends a positive message to everyone. If people realize their organ donation can make a difference for their friends and neighbors, the people in their church and their community, they know they can make a real difference, especially in a place like New Orleans.”

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