In a collaboration with American Society for Transplantation Living Donor Community of Practice, Paula Zimbrean, MD, associate professor of psychiatry and surgery (transplantation), and Susan Rubman, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry, are lead authors of the paper, “Psychosocial Evaluation of Living Liver Donors-State of Current Practices in the United States.”
Published in Liver Transplantation, the article reports the current states of the psychosocial evaluation of living liver donors in the United States, as resulted from a national survey.
The survey assessed three domains: the components of the liver donor psychosocial team, the structure and workflow of the living donor psychosocial evaluation and follow up, and the opinion on absolute and relative psychiatric contraindications to donation.
While the domains assessed during the liver donor evaluation were consistent, there is still significant variability in regards to which behaviors or psychiatric disorders are considered to be absolute or relative contraindications to donation. The survey also highlighted the need for enhancing the post-donation access to mental health screening.
Zimbrean, director of Transplant Psychiatry Services at Yale New Haven Hospital, recently completed a five-year term as chair of the Transplant Psychiatry Special Interest Group within the Academy of Consultation Liaison Psychiatry.