Liver transplantation : official publication of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and the International Liver Transplantation Society
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Because Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) scores at the time of liver transplantation (LT) increase nationwide, patients are at an increased risk for delisting by becoming too sick or dying while awaiting transplantation. We quantified the risk and defined the predictors of delisting or death in patients with cirrhosis hospitalized with an infection. North American Consortium for the Study of End-Stage Liver Disease (NACSELD) is a 15-center consortium of tertiary-care hepatology centers that prospectively enroll and collect data on infected patients with cirrhosis. ⋯ LT-listed patients with end-stage liver disease and infection have a 42% risk of delisting/death within a 6-month period following an admission. The number of organ failures was highly predictive of the risk for delisting/death. Strategies focusing on prevention of infections and extrahepatic organ failure in listed patients with cirrhosis are required.