Ethylene Glycol Poisoning Should Not Contraindicate Liver Donation

• Main Authors: Alisha Burman, Christopher J. E. Watson, MD, FRCS, Vasilis Kosmoliaptsis, PhD, FRCS
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wolters Kluwer 2017-10-01
• Series: Transplantation Direct
• Online Access: http://journals.lww.com/transplantationdirect/fulltext/10.1097/TXD.0000000000000729

Abstract. As the number of patients waiting to receive transplants increases, there is a need to explore all possible donation opportunities. In this case report, we describe the transplantation of a liver from a donor who died after ethylene glycol poisoning into a woman with alcoholic liver disease with cirrhosis and associated ascites. Donor management, including ethanol, fomepizol and haemodialysis, hastened clearance of ethylene glycol from the circulation, and after liver transplantation, the recipient exhibited no adverse effects suggestive of ethylene glycol toxicity, although recipient hepatic artery dissection and thrombosis necessitated retransplantation. Our experience suggests that donor death due to ethylene glycol intoxication should not contraindicate liver transplantation, particularly after appropriate donor management.