The need for donor livers far exceeds the supply, and extended-criteria donor selection has offered a partial solution to the
organ shortage, Dr. Northrup noted. Use of HCV-positive grafts
for HCV-positive patients offers an example of marginal-donor expansion.
Cirrhosis secondary to HCV infection has accounted for as many as half of all liver transplants performed in the U.S., and more than four million people are currently infected, Dr. Northrup continued.