UCSF

Gender differences in the natural history of chronic liver disease have been well-described. Women have lower rates of chronic liver disease and slower fibrosis progression, yet higher rates of waitlist mortality.^1,2 Although previous studies have identified several clinical factors including height and creatinine that explain some of this transplant disparity, most have used data from administrative records, which are limited in their ability to identify clinically relevant differences and opportunities for intervention to reduce disparities.^3-5 Additionally, most studies have focused on the period between waitlist and transplant, failing to capture gender differences in access to transplant.^3,6 In the present study, we took advantage of a multicenter inpatient cohort with granular clinical data to characterize how women and men with cirrhosis differ, to stimulate future research aimed at reducing the well-established gender disparity in liver transplantation.