Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30787089›Full record

ArticleBMJ open2019

Is liver transplantation 'out-of-hours' non-inferior to 'in-hours' transplantation? A retrospective analysis of the UK Transplant Registry.

Neil Halliday, Kate Martin, David Collett, Elisa Allen, Douglas Thorburn

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ open, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Transforming the logistics of liver transplantation with normothermic machine perfusion: Clinical impact versus cost.Liver transplantation : official publication of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and the International Liver Transplantation Society · 2025
    Article
  3. Review
  4. Observational
  5. Circadian rhythms in solid organ transplantation.The Journal of heart and lung transplantation : the official publication of the International Society for Heart Transplantation · 2024
    Review
  6. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Neil HallidaySheila Sherlock Liver Centre, Royal Free Hospital and the UCL Institute for Liver and Digestive Health, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-8220-9139
Kate MartinStatistics and Clinical Studies, NHS Blood and Transplant, Bristol, UK.
David CollettStatistics and Clinical Studies, NHS Blood and Transplant, Bristol, UK.
Elisa AllenStatistics and Clinical Studies, NHS Blood and Transplant, Bristol, UK.
Douglas ThorburnSheila Sherlock Liver Centre, Royal Free Hospital and the UCL Institute for Liver and Digestive Health, London, UK.

Funding

Wellcome Trust
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesIncreased morbidity and mortality have been associated with weekend and night-time clinical activity. We sought to compare the outcomes of liver transplantation (LT) between weekdays and weekends or night-time and day-time to determine if 'out-of-hours' LT has acceptable results compared with 'in-hours'. DESIGN, SETTING AND

participantsWe conducted a retrospective analysis of patient outcomes for all 8816 adult, liver-only transplants (2000-2014) from the UK Transplant Registry. OUTCOME MEASURES: Outcome measures were graft failure (loss of the graft with or without death) and transplant failure (either graft failure or death with a functioning graft) at 30 days, 1 year and 3 years post-transplantation. The association of these outcomes with weekend versus weekday and day versus night transplantation were explored, following the construction of a risk-adjusted Cox regression model.

resultsSimilar patient and donor characteristics were observed between weekend and weekday transplantation. Unadjusted graft failure estimates were 5.7% at 30 days, 10.4% at 1 year and 14.6% at 3 years; transplant failure estimates were 7.9%, 15.3% and 21.3% respectively.A risk-adjusted Cox regression model demonstrated a significantly lower adjusted HR (95% CI) of transplant failure for weekend transplant of 0.77 (0.66 to 0.91) within 30 days, 0.86 (0.77 to 0.97) within 1 year, 0.89 (0.81 to 0.99) within 3 years and for graft failure of 0.81 (0.67 to 0.97) within 30 days. For patients without transplant failure within 30 days, there was no weekend effect on transplant failure. Neither night-time procurement nor transplantation were associated with an increased hazard of transplant or graft failure.

conclusionsWeekend and night-time LT outcomes were non-inferior to weekday or day-time transplantation, and we observed a possible small beneficial effect of weekend transplantation. The structure of LT services in the UK delivers acceptable outcomes 'out-of-hours' and may offer wider lessons for weekend working structures.

Indexed as

AdultFemaleGraft SurvivalHumansLiver TransplantationMaleMiddle AgedProportional Hazards ModelsRegistriesRetrospective StudiesTime FactorsTreatment OutcomeUnited Kingdomhepatologyquality in health caretransplant medicinetransplant surgery

Identifiers

PMID30787089
PMCPMC6398642

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.