The risk factors for early infection in adult living donor liver transplantation recipients.

OBJECTIVE

The high rate of early major infections in liver transplantation recipients is due to their compromised immune-system. We examined the risk factors of early major infection in living donor liver transplantation (LDLT).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

From January 2004 to December 2010, 242 patients undergoing LDLT were enrolled in the prospective cohort. We prospectively collected their clinical and demographic variables, operative details, and posttransplant complications.

RESULT

One hundred thirty-nine patients (57.7%) experienced 252 episodes of early infection posttransplantation: bloodstream septicemia (n = 46, 18.3%), urinary tract (n = 34; 14.1%), pneumonia (n = 64; 25.4%), peritonitis (n = 62; 25.7%), and catheter related (n = 46; 19%). The most frequent Gram-positive bacteria were coagulase-negative staphylococci (n = 52; 16.9%), followed by Staphylococcus aureus (n = 32; 10.4%). The most common Gram-negative bacteria were Escherichia coli (n = 27; 8.8%); Acinetobacter baumannii (n = 29; 9.4%), Pseudomonas aureos (n = 18; 5.8%), and Sternotrophomonas maltophilia (n = 18; 5.8%). Upon multivariate logistic regression analysis, the risk factors for early major infection were a high creatinine level (odds ratio = 1.481), a long anhepatic arterial phase (1.01), a reoperation (6.417), young age (1.040), and non-hepatocellular carcinoma recipient (2.141).

CONCLUSION

Early major infection after LDLT was high with Gram-positive bacteria, the most common etiologies. Prolonged anhepatic arterial phase, renal insufficiency, and reoperation were risk factors for an early major infection.