Cutaneous disorders in liver transplant recipients.

OBJECTIVES

This study sought to analyze the incidence and risk factors of skin complications in liver transplant recipients.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Patients with skin biopsies were selected from 408 liver transplant recipients from January 1990 to December 2012 at Baskent University in Ankara, Turkey. Demographic and clinical findings including age, sex, primary liver disease, immunosuppressive therapy, and the time between transplant and cutaneous lesions were examined.

RESULTS

There were 38 patients who had skin biopsy after liver transplantation. The mean age at transplantation was 30.5 years. The primary liver disease was hepatocellular carcinoma second to viral hepatitis in 15 patients, Wilson disease in 7 patients, cryptogenic cirrhosis in 3, familial hypercholesterolemia in 3 patients, and 1 each patients of Byler disease, Caroli disease, tyrosinemia, Budd-Chiari syndrome, congenital hepatic fibrosis, alcoholic cirrhosis, and biliary atresia. The primary disease in 3 patients were unknown. The histologic diagnosis included precancerous and cancerous lesions (n=4), infectious diseases (n=4); xanthomatous lesions (n=4); vasculopathic lesions (n=4); melanocytic lesions (n=4); benign adnexial tumors (n=2); skin atrophy (n=2); calcinosis cutis (n=2), keratinous cyst (n=2), neutrophilic dermatosis (n=2), perivascular dermatitis (n=2) and miscellaneous lesions (n=6).

CONCLUSIONS

We presented the cutaneous manifestations in liver transplant recipients. The most common skin lesion in these patients were precancerous and cancerous lesions, infectious, xanthomatous, and melanocytic lesions. The findings emphasize the importance of dermatologic screening in these patients that can provide early diagnosis and a better quality of life.