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Do older patients utilize excess health care resources after liver transplantation? Shankar N, et al. The aim of this study was to determine if patients > 60 years of age utilize more health resources following liver transplantation compared with younger patients. The authors found that recipients > 60 years of age have similar lengths of hospitalization, re-operative rates, need for consultative services and readmission rates following liver transplantation, but have longer lengths of stay in the intensive care. The importance of this study is because elderly patients with cirrhosis are at increased risk of having co-morbidity conditions that complicate its management, and cirrhosis in the elderly is a cause of increased mortality from both hepatic and non-hepatic causes. In fact one of the most important factors in the outcomes in the elderly patients is the pre-transplant evaluation of the older transplant candidate differs from that of a younger patient because of the increased prevalence of medical co-morbidities. While certain elements of the pre-transplant evaluation are routine for all patients, others are determined by comorbidity conditions common to the elderly patient. The pretransplant evaluation of a potential liver transplant candidate, especially the elderly patient, is increasingly multidisciplinary in nature, under the direction of a transplant hepatologist and liver transplant surgeon.

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2011-09-13   |   865 visitas   |   Evalua este artículo 0 valoraciones

Vol. 10 Núm.4. Octubre-Diciembre 2011 Pags. 418-420 Ann Hepatol 2011; 10(4)