Background:

Data on the influence of donor gender on post-liver transplant outcomes is scarce and is lacking.

Aims:

The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic factors of mortality in patients undergoing liver transplantation (LT) with a thorough evaluation of the influence of the donor variables.

Methods:

All patients undergoing LT at a single center from December 2011 to December 2018 were included. The main outcome measure of the study was overall patient survival. The mortality predictors were evaluated using Cox regression.

Results:

The study analyzed 202 patients, 118 (58.1%) being males, and the average age was 54.19±11.66 years. Post-LT survival for the entire cohort of 202 patients as assessed by the KaplanMeier method at 1, 3, 5, and 7 years was 81.6, 73.1, 67.6, and 63%, respectively. The only predictor of increased overall mortality was female donor gender [HR 1.918, 95%CI 1.150–3.201, p=0.013]. Weight and height differences between donor and recipient were not related to mortality (p=0.545 for weight and p=0.964 height).

Conclusions:

Female donor gender was associated with an increase in overall post-LT mortality, especially for male recipients, regardless of anthropometric parameters. For male patients receiving livers from female donors, infection was the most common cause of mortality, occurring in the first year following LT.