1. Marijuana Consumption in Liver Transplant Recipients.
- Author
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Serrano Rodriguez P, Strassle PD, Barritt AS 4th, Watkins R, Gerber DA, Hayashi PH, and Desai CS
- Subjects
- Adolescent, Adult, End Stage Liver Disease diagnosis, End Stage Liver Disease surgery, Female, Graft Survival, Humans, Liver Transplantation statistics & numerical data, Male, Marijuana Smoking epidemiology, Middle Aged, Retrospective Studies, Severity of Illness Index, Tobacco Smoking epidemiology, United States epidemiology, Young Adult, End Stage Liver Disease mortality, Liver Transplantation adverse effects, Marijuana Smoking adverse effects, Tobacco Smoking adverse effects, Transplant Recipients statistics & numerical data
- Abstract
Marijuana is legalized for either medical or recreational use in over half of the states in the United States and in Canada, but many transplant centers will not list patients who are using marijuana. However, the effect of marijuana on transplant outcomes remains unclear. Thus, we performed a retrospective analysis of all adult (≥18 years old) liver transplant patients treated at our center between 2007 and 2017. Patients were grouped according to their marijuana use and tobacco smoking status. We also evaluated tobacco smoking status for the comparative evaluation. Posttransplant morbidity, mortality, and graft survival were evaluated. In total, 316 patients were included: 171 (54%) patients were tobacco smokers (70 current; 101 former), 81 (26%) patients were marijuana smokers (13 current; 68 former), and 64 (20#x0025;) patients were both marijuana and tobacco smokers. A total of 136 (43%) reported never smoking marijuana or tobacco. After adjustment, current tobacco users were over 3 times as likely to die within 5 years compared with never users (hazard ratio [HR], 3.25; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.63-6.46; P < 0.001), but no difference was seen between current/former and never marijuana users (HR, 0.52; 95% CI, 0.26-1.04; P = 0.06). No significant differences in inpatient respiratory complications, reintubation, or >24-hour intubation was seen. Overall, pretransplant marijuana use, past or current, does not appear to impact liver transplant outcomes, though tobacco smoking remains detrimental., (Copyright © 2019 by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.)
- Published
- 2019
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