Effects of liver transplantation on health-related quality of life in patients with primary biliary cholangitis.

Abstract

Patients with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) have decreased health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Here, we investigate HRQoL in two cohorts of transplanted patients with PBC and compare their results to healthy subjects. We used generic SF-36 and disease-specific PBC-40 questionnaires to evaluate HRQoL in 26 patients with PBC (23 females, age 59.4±5.7years) before and after liver transplantation (LT), and in 107 patients with PBC (99 females, age 62.8±6.7years) who were previously transplanted. The control group was comprised of 60 healthy controls (55 females, age 54.6±8.8years). Health-related quality of life improved after LT in 85% of PBC patients. The SF-36 measure showed significant (all P<0.05) improvements in the majority of domains after LT, and in the summary scores both physical and mental. We also documented significant improvements in pruritus andfatigue after LT (all P<0.01). However, liver graft recipients had significantly worse physical functioning, physical role, and emotional role domains, and physical component score (all P<0.001), as compared to healthy subjects. No differences in HRQoL were detected between patients evaluated after short and prolonged post-LT periods (P>0.05). Liver transplantation substantially improves most aspects of life quality in PBC patients. Nevertheless, their HRQoL remains worse in comparison to healthy individuals, mainly in physical aspects.