THURSDAY, Sept. 28 (HealthDay News) -- Women may have an edge on men
when it comes to surviving liver transplant, a new British study
finds.


The study of over 2,700 patients who received a liver transplant
between 1985 and 2003 found that female patients live an average of
4.5 years longer than their male counterparts.


According to researchers at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham,
average survival time for the patients in the study was 22 years,
compared with 29 years for a comparison group of healthy people of
similar age.


Average life expectancy for female liver transplant patients was 26
years, compared with 18 for males. The average life expectancy for
the general population was 31 years for women and 27 years for men.


Liver transplant patients ages 17 to 34 had an average life
expectancy of 28 years. While this was the highest among the
transplant patients, it fell far short of the average life
expectancy of 51 years for people ages 17 to 34 in the general
population.


Overall, patients who required a liver transplant due to primary
liver disease had significantly longer survival times than those who
had transplants due to hepatitis C, cirrhosis, or cancer.