Clinical pathways of patients with cirrhosis from registration to the liver transplantation program, analysis of 996 patients from the RH7 registry in Slovakia

Abstract

Summary: By analyzing 996 patients from the RH7 cirrhosis registry within the 4.5 years of inclusion interval, we mapped the path of patients to liver transplantation. We found that 283 patients (28.4%) opened a transplant protocol with a median of 4 days from registration, of which 117 (11.7%) were placed on a waiting list with a median of 91 days from the start of the protocol, and 75 (7.5%) were transplanted with a median of 44 days from enlisting. Factors that increased the likelihood of starting a transplant protocol were younger age, better body constitution and performance (BMI, muscle strength, lower frailty), autoimmune etiology, severity of liver disease, and lower levels of systemic inflammation (leukocytes, CRP). Factors that increased the probability of being enrolled on the waiting list were male gender, better physical performance, and severity of liver disease. Factors that increased the probability of removal from the waiting list other than autoimmune etiology, were severity of liver disease and systemic inflammation. Overall survival of one and three years after liver transplantation was 82.6 and 78.1% of patients respectively. The study will serve as an important lesson in the functioning of the set processes to further streamline and improve the quality of our transplant program. Key words: liver cirrhosis – liver transplantation – management – waiting list – prognosis