Table 1

Characteristics of weekday and weekend liver-only transplants in the UK, 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2014

Weekday transplantWeekend transplantP value
N (%) unless otherwise stated
Total number of transplants 5613 (64) 3203 (36)
Recipient characteristics
Transplant year
2000 312 (6)209 (7)
2001 345 (6)188 (6)
2002 335 (6)232 (7)
2003 288 (5)207 (6)
2004 340 (6)239 (7)
2005 315 (6)172 (5)
2006 321 (6)196 (6)0.002
2007 341 (6)198 (6)
2008 379 (7)195 (6)
2009 379 (7)187 (6)
2010 379 (7)212 (7)
2011 406 (7)209 (7)
2012 441 (8)227 (7)
2013 511 (9)246 (8)
2014 521 (9)286 (9)
Super-urgent803 (14)523 (16)0.01
Age at transplant, mean (SD)50 (13)50.2 (12)0.5
Male gender3405 (61)1899 (59)0.2
Caucasian4922 (88)2814 (88)0.8
MELD at transplant, mean (SD)19.1 (9)19.5 (9)0.05
UKELD at transplant, mean (SD)56.0 (6)56.4 (7)0.02
Primary liver disease
Cancer 320 (6)171 (5)
Hepatitis C infection 746 (13)395 (12)
Alcohol related liver disease 1180 (21)626 (20)
Hepatitis B infection 153 (3)107 (3)
Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis 451 (8)276 (9)0.14
Primary Biliary Cholangitis 520 (9)333 (10)
Autoimmune hepatitis 453 (8)255 (8)
Metabolic liver disease 316 (6)172 (5)
Acute liver disease 647 (12)414 (13)
Retransplant 539 (10)304 (9)
Other 288 (5)150 (5)
ABO blood group
O 2405 (43)1318 (41)
A 2338 (42)1341 (42)0.01
B 648 (12)372 (12)
AB 222 (4)172 (5)
Renal support690 (12)421 (13)0.2
Inpatient1585 (28)975 (30)0.03
Ventilated585 (10)373 (12)0.08
Oesophageal varices3406 (61)1991 (62)0.17
Presence of TIPS185 (3)130 (4)0.06
Sepsis confirmed224 (4)175 (5)0.001
Portal vein thrombosis104 (2)61 (2)0.9
BMI kg/m2, mean (SD)26.4 (5)26.4 (5)0.5
Donor characteristics
Donor age,
mean (SD)
46.4 (15)46 (16)0.3
DCD596 (11)333 (10)0.7
Split liver398 (7)190 (6)0.04
Organ appearance suboptimal1208 (22)653 (20)0.2
Cause of death
CVA 3736 (67)2174 (68)
Miscellaneous 1186 (21)572 (18)0.0002
RTA 410 (7)293 (9)
Other trauma 281 (5)164 (5)
Operative characteristics
Night-time procurement3799 (68)2429 (76)<0.0001
Night-time transplant3715 (66)2386 (74)<0.0001
CIT (hours), mean (SD)9.3 (3)9.4 (3)0.24
Previous abdominal surgery1115 (20)670 (21)0.2
Failure
Overall graft failure (%)
30 days650.08
1 year11100.16
3 years15140.16
Overall transplant failure (%)
30 days870.01
1 year16140.09
3 years22200.12
Cause of death at 30 days 229 (4) 120 (4)
Cardiothoracic/myocardial ischaemia and infarction29 (13)17 (14)
CVA11 (5)2 (2)
Haemorrhage15 (7)7 (6)0.3
Infection/septicaemia32 (14)15 (13)
Multisystem failure67 (29)47 (39)
Other75 (33)32 (27)
Cause of graft failure at 30 days 314 (6) 152 (5)
Biliary complications6 (2)4 (3)
Hepatic artery thrombosis95 (30)42 (28)
Non-thrombotic infarction14 (4)12 (8)0.6
Primary non-function93 (30)50 (33)
Rejection7 (2)3 (2)
Other99 (32)41 (27)
  • BMI, body mass index; CIT, cold ischaemia time; CVA, cerebrovascular accident; DCD, donation after cardiac death; MELD, model of end-stage liver disease; RTA, road traffic accident; UKELD, UK model for end-stage liver disease.