Era of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease and impact on the liver donor pool.

Abstract

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) has emerged as a silent epidemic having substantial clinical implications, with liver transplantation being one of the areas most impacted. The increasing prevalence of metabolic fatty liver disease has reduced the quality of available donor organs. While noninvasive methods are increasingly applied to evaluate liver steatosis in deceased donors, liver biopsy remains the gold standard. Many aspects of liver biopsies are not yet fully standardized. Macrovesicular hepatic steatosis is associated with decreased allograft quality and poorer short- and long-term transplant outcomes, especially in moderate and severe steatotic cases. Donation after cardiac arrest further exacerbates these poor outcomes. Matching marginal allografts with suitable recipients based on recipient characteristics is crucial for improving transplant outcomes. Living donor liver transplant is a feasible option for addressing organ shortages. Noninvasive evaluation is preferred for assessing liver health; however, when the results are inconclusive, a liver biopsy is recommended. Lifestyle modifications can improve graft, living donor and recipient outcomes. Analysis of the impact of MASLD on the donor pool and the implementation of new optimization strategies are essential to ensure the sustainability of transplantation as a curative treatment for advanced liver cirrhosis. The aim of this review was to summarize the effect of MASLD on the liver donor population, highlighting how to evaluate steatosis in donors, and to discuss its clinical implications as well as strategies to optimize organ allocation in the MASLD era.