Acute Kidney Injury In Liver Transplantation Research Articles

The Association of Preoperative Body Mass Index with Acute Kidney Injury in Liver Transplantation Recipients: A Retrospective Study.

BackgroundLiver transplantation (LT) is a complicated procedure with a high incidence of postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI). Previous studies indicate that even transient or mild post-LT AKI can result in critical conditions, including prolonged stays in hospitals and intensive care units and increased morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between body mass index (BMI) and occurrence of AKI in LT recipients.MethodsMedical data from 203 patients who received LT surgery from January 2010 to August 2016 in a single university hospital setting were retrospectively collected and analyzed. Patients were classified as either underweight (BMI <20 kg/m2) or normal weight (20 ≤ BMI < 30 kg/m2). Demographic data, anesthetic methods, complications, and perioperative laboratory test values of each patient were assessed. Propensity analyses and logistic regression were performed to evaluate the association between BMI and post-LT AKI.ResultsThere was no significant difference in occurrence of post-LT AKI between underweight and normal weight patients. The underweight patient group had significantly longer hospital stay compared with the normal weight patient group (P = 0.023).ConclusionsBMI classification was neither a positive nor negative predictor of postoperative AKI occurrence. However, patients with lower BMI had significantly longer hospital stay compared with their counterparts. Although our study was limited by its retrospective design, our observations suggest that lower BMI might play a role in post-LT AKI.

Role of cytokine gene polymorphisms in acute and chronic kidney disease following liver transplantation.

Development of renal dysfunction, including acute kidney injury (AKI) and chronic kidney disease (CKD), after liver transplantation (LT) remains a critical issue adversely affecting patient survival in both the short and long term. Previous reports have suggested that inflammatory and antiinflammatory cytokines and their functionally relevant gene polymorphisms may play critical roles in the development of AKI and CKD. However, the involvement of these cytokines and their gene polymorphisms in renal deterioration following LT remains unclear. We examined 62 recipients who underwent LT at Nagoya University between 2004 and 2009 and who had survived for at least 1year. The following gene polymorphisms in recipients were analyzed: tumor necrosis factor-A (TNFA) T-1031C, interleukin-2 (IL2) T-330G, IL10 C-819T, IL13 C-1111T, transforming growth factor-B (TGFB) T29C, and IL4 T-33C. Thirteen patients (21%) developed AKI within 4weeks after LT. Of the investigated gene polymorphisms, the IL4 -33 T/T genotype was significantly associated with higher incidence of AKI compared with the other two genotypes [hazard ratio (HR)=5.48, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.18-25.52, p=0.03]. On the other hand, 16 patients (26%) had developed CKD at median follow-up of 9.2years after LT. We showed the lack of association between investigated gene polymorphisms in recipients and CKD development. The IL4 -33 T/T genotype might be a risk factor for AKI in LT, and this might contribute to earlier withdrawal of immunosuppressive agents to minimize renal toxicity. In contrast, none of the investigated cytokine gene polymorphisms were associated with CKD.

Acute kidney injury and post-reperfusion syndrome in liver transplantation.

In the past decades liver transplantation (LT) has become the treatment of choice for patients with end stage liver disease (ESLD). The chronic shortage of cadaveric organs for transplantation led to the utilization of a greater number of marginal donors such as older donors or donors after circulatory death (DCD). The improved survival of transplanted patients has increased the frequency of long-term complications, in particular chronic kidney disease (CKD). Acute kidney injury (AKI) post-LT has been recently recognized as an important risk factor for the occurrence of de novo CKD in the long-term outcome. The onset of AKI post-LT is multifactorial, with pre-LT risk factors involved, including higher Model for End-stage Liver Disease score, more sever ESLD and pre-existing renal dysfunction, either with intra-operative conditions, in particular ischaemia reperfusion injury responsible for post-reperfusion syndrome (PRS) that can influence recipient’s morbidity and mortality. Post-reperfusion syndrome-induced AKI is an important complication post-LT that characterizes kidney involvement caused by PRS with mechanisms not clearly understood and implication on graft and patient survival. Since pre-LT risk factors may influence intra-operative events responsible for PRS-induced AKI, we aim to consider all the relevant aspects involved in PRS-induced AKI in the setting of LT and to identify all studies that better clarified the specific mechanisms linking PRS and AKI. A PubMed search was conducted using the terms liver transplantation AND acute kidney injury; liver transplantation AND post-reperfusion syndrome; acute kidney injury AND post-reperfusion syndrome; acute kidney injury AND DCD AND liver transplantation. Five hundred seventy four articles were retrieved on PubMed search. Results were limited to title/abstract of English-language articles published between 2000 and 2015. Twenty-three studies were identified that specifically evaluated incidence, risk factors and outcome for patients developing PRS-induced AKI in liver transplantation. In order to identify intra-operative risk factors/mechanisms specifically involved in PRS-induced AKI, avoiding confounding factors, we have limited our study to “acute kidney injury AND DCD AND liver transplantation”. Accordingly, three out of five studies were selected for our purpose.

Intraoperative use of gelatin in living donor liver transplantation and postoperative acute kidney injury

The aim of our study is to investigate the effect of intraoperative use of gelatin in living donor liver transplantation on postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI). It has been demonstrated that ischemia and chloride-liberal fluid management cause AKI in liver transplantation [1]. Gelatin has minimal side effects on renal functions [2]; however, it might be a reason for postoperative AKI.