Liver transplantation organ allocation between Child and MELD

Survival Outcomes After Liver Transplantation in Elderly Patients: A Single-Center Retrospective Analysis

AIM

This study aims to evaluate survival rates in elderly patients after liver transplantation (LT) and to analyze the factors associated with mortality.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Our study includes 535 patients over the age of 18 who had undergone LT in our clinic between June 2004 and January 2018. Data were collected prospectively and scanned retrospectively. Data concerning the patients' age, sex, LT indication, Child-Turcotte-Pugh score, Model for End-Stage Liver Disease score, presence of hepatocellular cancer (HCC), coexisting disease, LT types, and post-transplant survival were investigated. The patients were grouped under 2 categories (18-59 years of age and 60 years of age and over) and were compared in terms of their characteristics. In patients aged 60 and over, the causes of mortality and related factors were investigated.

RESULTS

The study included 535 patients, 458 (85.6%) of whom were between 18 and 59 years of age and 77 (14.4%) were over 60 years of age. The median follow-up period was 86.7 (1 to 247) months. The elderly group's survival rate was significantly lower than that of the younger group (P = .002). In elderly patients, survival rates of 1, 3, 5, and 10 years were 67.4%, 56.4%, 53.8%, and 46.1%, respectively.

CONCLUSION

In elderly patients, factors that increase post-LT mortality require thorough consideration. Equally important is the physiological status of the candidates for transplantation. Correct patient selection in the preoperative stage and good postoperative care can provide successful survival results in elderly patients.

Outcome after liver transplantation in elderly recipients (>65 years) - A single-center retrospective analysis

BACKGROUND

Liver transplantation (LT) in elderly recipients is controversially discussed in the literature with only little data on long-term outcome available. We aimed to evaluate the safety and efficiency of LT in elderly recipients (>65 years).

METHODS

Between 1989-2016, 139 patients >65 years-old were listed for liver transplantation, and 76 (55%) were transplanted. Patient outcome and characteristics were evaluated separately for the time period before (1989-2004) and after (2005-2016) MELD-implementation. Post-transplant outcome was compared between the elderly cohort and LT-recipients aged 18-65 years (n = 1395).

RESULTS

Overall survival of patients >65 years was better in the MELD-era compared to the earlier period (1- and 5-year-survival: 73%, 60% vs. 69%, 37%, respectively; p = 0.055). The main differences between the two groups included higher recipient age (p = 0.001) and BMI (p = 0.001), higher donor age (p < 0.001), less need of intraoperative red blood cells (p = 0.008) and a lower number of postoperative rejections (p = 0.03) after 2004. Comparing the overall survival of patients transplanted in the MELD-era aged 18-65 years vs. >65 years displayed comparable 1- and 5 year-survival rates (81%, 68% vs. 73% and 60%, respectively, p = 0.558).

CONCLUSION

In the modern era, outcome of patients receiving LT with >65 years is comparable to <65 year-old patients. After careful evaluation, patients >65 years old should be considered for LT.

Early lactate clearance as a reliable predictor of initial poor graft function after orthotopic liver transplantation

BACKGROUND

Initial poor graft function (IPGF) following orthotopic liver transplantation is a major determinant of postoperative survival and morbidity. Lactate clearance is a good marker of liver function. In this study, we investigated the clinical utility of early lactate clearance as an early and accurate predictor for IPGF following liver transplantation.

METHODS

This was a prospective observational study of 222 patients referred to the surgical intensive care unit (SICU) after orthotopic liver transplantation. The IPGF group consisted of patients with alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and/or aspartate aminotransferase (AST) >1500 IU/L within 72 hours after orthotopic liver transplantation. Early lactate clearance was defined as lactate at SICU presentation (hour 0) minus lactate at hour 6, divided by lactate at SICU presentation. The model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score, Child-Pugh score and laboratory data including AST, ALT, total bilirubin (TB) and prothrombin time (PT) were recorded at SICU presentation and compared between the non-IPGF and IPGF groups. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted to measure the performance of early lactate clearance, MELD score, Child-Pugh score, TB and PT.

RESULTS

IPGF occurred in 45 of the 222 patients (20.3%). The early lactate clearance in the non-IPGF group was markedly higher than that in the IPGF group (43.2+/-13.8% vs 13.4+/-13.7% P<0.001). The optimum cut-off value for early lactate clearance predicting IPGF was 24.8% (sensitivity 95.5%, specificity 88.9%). The area under the curve of the ROC was 0.961, which was significantly superior to MELD score, Child-Pugh score, TB and PT. Patients with early lactate clearance ≤24.8% had a higher IPGF rate (OR=169) and a higher risk of in-hospital mortality (OR=3.625).

CONCLUSIONS

Early lactate clearance can serve as a prompt and accurate bedside predictor of IPGF. Patients with early lactate clearance less than 24.8% are associated with a higher incidence of IPGF.

Liver transplantation in Greek children: 15 years experience

Liver transplantation (LT) is the only available live-saving procedure for children with irreversible liver failure. This paper reports our experience from the follow-up of 16 Greek children with end-stage liver failure who underwent a LT. Over a period of 15 years, 16 pediatric liver recipients received follow up after being subjected to OLT (orthotopic liver transplantation) due to end-stage liver failure. Nine children initially presented with extrahepatic biliary atresia, 2 with acute liver failure after toxic mushroom ingestion, 2 with intrahepatic cholestasis, 2 with metabolic diseases and one with hepatoblastoma. Ten children received a liver transplant in the Organ Transplantation Unit of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the rest in other transplant centers. Three transplants came from a living-related donor and 13 from a deceased donor. Six children underwent immunosuppressive treatment with cyclosporine, mycophenolate mofetil and corticosteroids, and 7 with tacrolimus, mycophenolate mofetil and corticosteroids. Three out of 16 children died within the first month after the transplantation due to post-transplant complications. Three children presented with acute rejection and one with chronic organ rejection which was successfully managed. Five children presented with cytomegalovirus infection, 5 with Epstein-Barr virus, 2 with HSV(1,2), 2 with ParvoB19 virus, 2 with varicella-zoster virus and one with C. Albicans infection. One child presented with upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage and one with small biliary paucity. A satisfying outcome was achieved in most cases, with good graft function, except for the patient with small biliary paucity who required re-transplantation.The long-term clinical course of liver transplanted children is good under the condition that they are attended in specialized centers.