Delhomme, Margaux
Gender inequalities and liver transplantation
- 2024.
48
Women are at a disadvantage compared to men at each stage of the liver transplant pathway according to studies carried out in the United States and several European countries. These studies suggest that women have a lower probability of being referred to a transplant center and that the severity of their disease is underestimated. For those who are assessed and listed, the waiting time on the list is longer. They also suggest women are less likely to be transplanted and more likely to die while on the waiting list, and their post-transplant results are thought to be worse. Data are accumulating that highlight these phenomena and, although it is now established that women particularly suffer from an inadequate measurement of renal function, which puts them at a disadvantage, this is not enough to explain such disparities. If we cannot act on all the factors contributing to these heterogeneities, it seems necessary to at least consider new measurements of renal function in women. In France, there are no studies dedicated to these inequalities between men and women but the data from the Agence de la Biomédecine are reassuring, showing that waiting times, mortality on the list, access to transplantation rates, and post-transplant survival rates are similar for both women and men.