Prognosis of Patients Following Liver Transplant From Deceased and Living Donors.

OBJECTIVES

Liver transplant is the only treatment option for patients with end-stage liver disease.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Liver transplant procedures performed from June 2013 to March 2017 were evaluated. We evaluated the postoperative period in recipients of livers from deceased and living donors.

RESULTS

Of 31 liver transplant procedures in 30 recipients, 12 were from deceased and 19 from living donors. The final analysis included 24 liver transplants (11 males, 13 females), with 10 from deceased and 14 from living donors. No deaths or life-threatening and debilitating complications were shown in liver donors. All living-donor liver transplants were performed utilizing the right lobe, the volume of which was calculated using contrast-enhanced computed tomography. Most living-donor liver recipients had viral hepatitis, whereas most deceased-donor liver recipients had autoimmune liver disease. Median age of recipients of deceased donations was 39.3 years (median admission duration of 28.1 days), and median age of recipients of donations from living donors was 45.4 years (median admission duration of 36.4 days). All patients were started on an immunosuppression protocol, which included basiliximab on days 0 and 4, tacrolimus, mycophenolate, and prednisolone. Of 24 recipients, 5 were taking prednisolone 10 mg/day or less at discharge.

CONCLUSIONS

Most of our liver transplant procedures were living-donor liver transplants (61.3%). Most patients who received living donations had viral hepatitis, with all cases related to autoimmune liver disease receiving deceased donations. This may be related to the possibility of antiviral therapy controlling all stages of liver disease versus no chance of controlling autoimmune liver disease. Living-donor liver transplant recipients required more time to recover to reach initial liver volume; 20.8% of recipients were discharged with prednisolone of 10 mg/day or less. Our results suggest a need for further development of nonsteroidal immunosuppression strategies to minimize infections and steroid-related adverse effects.