Body Mass Index Evaluating Donor Hepatic Steatosis in Living Donor Liver Transplantation

Introduction. Evaluation of graft hepatic steatosis is important for the safety of the donor and the recipient in living donor liver transplantation. It is necessary to establish a noninvasive evaluation method to avoid performing a liver biopsy for donor safety. The aim of this study was to identify independent factors that correlated with hepatic steatosis to create a noninvasive method to evaluate hepatic steatosis. Methods. We retrospectively collected data from 105 living donors. No prisoners were used to obtain the grafts, all of which underwent postoperative histological evaluation for hepatic steatosis. Preoperative clinical and biochemical variables were examined with univariate analyses, and filtered variables further examined with ordinal regression analysis. Results. Eighty (76.2%) donors showed no hepatic steatosis, 15 (14.3%), mild steatosis, and 10 (9.5%), moderate steatosis. In ordinal stepwise regression analysis, body mass index (BMI; P = .000) was the only independent factor that correlated with the grade of hepatic steatosis. Preoperative biochemical parameters were not significantly correlated with hepatic steatosis. A regression model based on BMI was created to evaluate hepatic steatosis grade. Furthermore, individuals with a BMI > 27.5 were most likely to show moderate steatosis, and those with BMI < 23 likely to display no or mild steatosis. Conclusion. BMI can help to identify the grade of hepatic steatosis among living donors. BMI is also useful to select living donors for a preoperative liver biopsy before liver transplantation.