Recurrence Of Hepatic Disease Research Articles

Short- and Long-Term Overall Results of Liver Retransplantation: “Doce de Octubre” Hospital Experience

The liver retransplantation rate in Spain is about 6%. The main causes are primary nonfunction, vascular complications, chronic rejection, and recurrent liver disease. The results of this procedure are worse than those of first transplantations. This retrospective study evaluated our experience with 54 retransplantations performed between January 1992 and December 2006, which were 5.6% of the 960 orthotopic liver transplantations (OLT) during this period. In this study, 34.7% of the retransplantations were performed between 4 and 30 days after the first transplantation; another 34.7% were within 1 year. Also, 48.9% of the retransplantations were performed in urgent situations. The main causes for retransplantation during the first month were primary hepatic failure (n = 14) and vascular complications (n = 4). After the first month the main causes were chronic rejection (n = 9), recurrence of hepatic disease (n = 3), and biliary complications (n = 4). Postoperative mortality was 23.9% and morbidity was 76.3%. However, 21.2% of the patients needed a third transplant. The overall rate of patient survival was 60.4% (n = 32) and of graft survival was 56.6% (n = 30). The 5-year actuarial graft survival rate was 65.4% with a mean survival time of 89.84 +/- 8.72 months; the 5-year patient survival rate was 64% with a mean survival time of 114.7 +/- 12.53 months. Worse survival was observed in chronic rejection and in retransplantations performed between 31 and 360 days. Liver retransplantation presents greater surgical complexity than the first transplantation, but is a good option for patients with failure of the first graft with a 5-year patient and graft survival rate greater than 65%.

Resecting large numbers of hepatic colorectal metastases.

Despite the widespread use of surgical resection as a treatment for hepatic colorectal metastases, the value of resecting more than three metastases remains controversial. It was the objective of this study to determine if resection of larger numbers of metastases affects patient survival. The survival of 123 consecutive patients who underwent curative hepatic resection for colorectal metastases between 1989 and 1999 by a single surgeon was analysed retrospectively. Kaplan-Meier survival statistics and Cox regression were used to determine the factors that affected survival, and logistic regression was used to determine the factors that affected the risk of recurrence of hepatic disease. The median survival rate for the whole group of patients was 38 months, with 1, 3 and 5 year survival rates of 88%, 53% and 31% respectively. The survival rate of patients undergoing resection of four to seven metastases (n=22; 5 year survival=39%) was not significantly different to that of patients undergoing resection of one to three metastases (n=91; 5 year survival=30%), P=0.9. Age, sex, primary cancer site, hepatic disease distribution, resection margins and adjuvant hepatic arterial chemotherapy (HAC) did not affect survival. Local invasion of the hepatic metastases (relative risk (RR)=2.9; P=0.001) and hepatic disease recurrence (RR=2.1; P =0.007) were the only factors that independently affected survival. Local invasion of the hepatic metastasis was the only factor associated with an increased risk of hepatic recurrence (RR=2.8; P=0.03). Adjuvant HAC did not affect the risk of hepatic recurrence (RR=1.5, P=0.4). Although there are no randomized trials that quantify any survival benefit from resection of liver metastases, the comparison of our results with well documented historical evidence indicates that surgical resection of up to seven colorectal liver metastases can result in a significant survival benefit.

Persistence of portosystemic collaterals and splenomegaly on CT after orthotopic liver transplantation.

The appearances of portosystemic collaterals and splenomegaly on CT before and after liver transplantation were evaluated. The records of 54 patients undergoing liver transplantation during a 2.5-year period were reviewed retrospectively. Twenty-five of these patients, in whom both a preoperative abdominal CT scan and a follow-up CT scan at least 1 year after transplantation had been obtained, were clinically well and had had no significant episodes of rejection, severe recurrent hepatitis, or other complication at the time of study. A total of 94 abdominal CT scans in these patients were reviewed to assess changes in portosystemic collaterals and splenic volume. At 6 months after transplantation, portosystemic collaterals at one or more sites were seen in 14 (74%) of the 19 patients scanned at this time in whom collaterals had been seen on CT preoperatively. At 1 year after transplantation, splenic hilar collaterals persisted in 64% of patients, splenocolic ligament collaterals in 50%, retroperitoneal collaterals in 38%, and peripancreatic collaterals in 38% of patients with preoperative varices at these sites who were examined with CT at this interval. Splenic hilar, coronary, and retroperitoneal collaterals were found to persist for up to 4 years after transplantation in the single patient examined at that time. Splenic volume decreased in 94% of patients examined after transplantation, with a mean reduction of 60 +/- 19%. However, the spleen remained significantly enlarged in 56% of patients. We conclude that portosystemic collaterals and splenomegaly frequently persist after liver transplantation, but that this finding need not indicate recurrence of hepatic disease or other posttransplantation complications.