"In order for patients to join a waiting list for an organ transplant they must complete an evaluation at a transplant center. Different transplant centers have different criteria for candidates. For example, some centers are more likely to accept an older candidate. They also have different waiting times and outcomes," said first author Cory Schaffhausen, PhD. "Patients can use the website to see how many transplant recipients at any US center have characteristics like themselves."
This personalized decision guide uses information about the patient's donor type and medical profile to match factors important to the individual. It uses data from the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients, a national transplant registry operated by HHRI under contract from the US Department of Health and Human Services.
Schaffhausen recently published an article about the new tool entitled "Tool to Aid Patients in Selecting a Liver Transplant Center," in the March issue of Liver Transplantation journal. This article is featured on the front cover of the journal. The Principal Investigator and senior author on the project is Ajay Israni, MD, MS and other researchers and co-author include Warren McKinney, PhD at HHRI. The HHRI team is also working with multiple collaborators at UMN.
Schaffhausen CR, Bruin MJ, Chu S, Fu H, McKinney WT, Schladt D, Snyder JJ, Kim WR, Lake JR, Kasiske BL, Israni AK.
Tool to Aid Patients in Selecting a Liver Transplant Center.
Liver Transpl, 26, 2020. doi: 337-348. doi: 10.1002/lt.25715.