Relationship Between Pretransplantation Liver Status and Health-Related Quality of Life After Grafting: A Single-Center Prospective Study

Abstract

BackgroundSeverity of liver disease evaluated with Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD)/Child-Pugh-Turcotte (CPT) score is of importance in liver transplantation (LTx) assessment. The Medical Outcomes Study Short Form (SF-36) is a widely used generic questionnaire of health-related quality of life (HRQoL). This study was a prospective analysis of the effect of pretransplantation liver status on HRQoL after the procedure. Materials and MethodsOne hundred and seven (62 male, 45 female, median age 52 years) consecutive patients were included. MELD/CPT score and diabetes status were evaluated during LTx assessment. Patients were divided into 3 groups depending on the period after LTx: 6 to 12 months (group I), 13 to 36 months (group II), and >37 months (group III). They also were divided into 2 groups depending on the age at LTx: group I (<50 years) and group II (>50 years). SF-36 was used in the assessment of HRQoL. ResultsCorrelation between pretransplantation MELD/CPT score and HRQoL was only seen in the general health domain of the SF-36 in patients from group I (r = 0.64; P = .004 and r = 0.61; P = .02, respectively). Diabetes exerted a significant effect on the physical component summary (P = .02), again in group I. No significant correlation was observed between MELD/CPT score and the presence of diabetes in groups II and III. Regarding age at LTx, no significant correlation between MELD/CPT score and HRQoL was seen. ConclusionsLiver status assessed with MELD and CPT scores before transplantation has a minor effect on HRQoL after LTx and exerts no significant effect in patients evaluated >12 months after LTx. Patients with diabetes seem to have worse quality of life early after surgery; however, diabetic and nondiabetic patients had comparable HRQoL scores later on after LTx.