Successful introduction of Model for End-stage Liver Disease scoring in deceased donor liver transplantation in Korea: analysis of first 1 year experience at a high-volume transplantation center

De Novo Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma After Deceased Donor Liver Transplant in an Adult Patient

Survival after liver transplant has progressively improved over recent decades. Recurrent or de novo malignancy, however, remains a major cause of patient death after transplant. Here, we have described a patient who developed de novo intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma in the graft liver after orthotopic liver transplant. The 48-year-old male patient had end-stage liver disease from hepatitis B-related liver cirrhosis and a Model for End-Stage Liver Disease score of 26 and was listed for liver transplant. Recurrent esophageal variceal hemorrhage, severe ascites, and splenomegaly had complicated the liver disease. He underwent emergent whole organ, deceased donor liver transplant for liver cirrhosis. The donor liver was procured through the standard donation after brain death process from a 72-year-old man who died of intracranial hemorrhage. The graft weighted 1500 g and had normal color, and cold ischemia time was 5 hours upon arrival at our hospital. The patient's early postoperative course was uneventful. Two months posttransplant, the patient presented to the emergency department with fever, abdominal pain, and skin rash. Computed tomography revealed a focal biliary stricture in the right hepatic duct. Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography identified intrahepatic duct dilatations. Subsequent endoscopic retrograde cholangiography demonstrated marked intra- and extrahepatic biliary dilatation. We considered it to be a benign stricture and inserted plastic stents. He recovered from biliary stricture-related cholangitis. Approximately 10 months posttransplant, the patient was admitted with fever and skin rash. Marked dilatation of the intrahepatic bile duct was shown with a poorly enhancing tumor in the right lobe of the graft. Percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage and tumor biopsy confirmed intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. We believe this to be the first case of de novo intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma in a patient with hepatitis B-related end-stage liver disease after liver transplant without primary sclerosing cholangitis.

Prognosis of Split Liver Transplantation Compared with Whole Liver Transplantation in Adult Patients: Single-center Results under the Korean MELD Score-based Allocation Policy

BACKGROUND

Split liver transplantation (SLT) has been occasionally performed in Korea. This study compared the incidence and prognosis of SLT with whole liver transplantation (WLT) in adult patients.

METHODS

Between June 2016 and November 2019, 242 adult patients underwent a total of 256 deceased donor liver transplantation operations. SLT was performed in 7 patients (2.9%).

RESULTS

The mean age of SLT donors was 29.7 ± 7.4 years, and the mean age of recipients was 55.7 ± 10.6 years, with the latter having a mean model for end-stage liver disease score of 34.6 ± 3.1. Mean split right liver graft weight was 1,228.6 ± 149.7 g and mean graft-recipient weight ratio was 1.97 ± 0.39. Of the seven SLT recipients, Korean Network for Organ Sharing (KONOS) status was one in status 1, one in status 2 and five in status 3. The graft (P = 0.72) and patient (P = 0.84) survival rates were comparable in the SLT and WLT groups. Following propensity score matching, graft (P = 0.61) and patient (P = 0.91) survival rates remained comparable in the two groups. Univariate analysis showed that pretransplant ventilator support and renal replacement therapy were significantly associated with patient survival, whereas KONOS status category and primary liver diseases were not. Multivariate analysis showed that pretransplant ventilator support was an independent risk factor for patient survival.

CONCLUSION

Survival outcomes were similar in adult SLT and WLT recipients, probably due to selection of high-quality grafts and low-risk recipients. Prudent selection of donors and adult recipients for SLT may expand the liver graft pool for pediatric patients without affecting outcomes in adults undergoing SLT.

Is renal replacement therapy necessary in deceased donor liver transplantation candidates with hepatorenal syndrome?: a 2-year experience at a high-volume center

Purpose

Hepatorenal syndrome (HRS) is a fatal complication in patients with end-stage liver disease awaiting liver transplantation (LT). HRS often develops in patients with high model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score. This study investigated the outcomes of peritransplant management of HRS in a high-volume LT center in Korea for 2 years.

Methods

A total of 157 recipients that deceased donor liver transplantation (DDLT) from January 2017 to December 2018 were included. In-hospital mortality (IHM) was analyzed in relation to pre- and posttransplant application of renal replacement therapy (RRT).

Results

Primary diagnoses for DDLT were alcoholic liver disease (n = 61), HBV-associated liver cirrhosis (n = 48), retransplantation for chronic graft failure (n = 24), and others (n = 24). Mean MELD score was 34.6 ± 6.2 with 72 patients at Korean Network for Organ Sharing MELD status 2 (45.9%), 43 at status 3 (27.4%), 36 at status 4 (22.9%), and 6 at status 5 (3.8%). Pretransplant RRT was performed in 16 patients (10.2%) that did not show IHM. Posttransplant RRT was performed in 69 patients (44.0%), for whom IHM incidence was 15.9%. In 53 patients that had undergone de novo posttransplant RRT, IHM incidence increased to 20.8%. IHM in the 88 patients not requiring RRT was 2.3%.

Conclusion

The majority of adult DDLT recipients in Korean MELD score-based allocation system have very high MELD scores, which is often associated with HRS. Pretransplant RRT appears to improve posttransplant survival outcomes. We thereby recommend that, if indicated, pretransplant RRT be performed while awaiting DDLT.

Deceased donor liver transplantation under the Korean model for end-stage liver disease score-based liver allocation system: 2-year allocation results at a high-volume transplantation center

Background

The Korean model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score-based liver allocation system was started in June 2016 in Korea.

Methods

This study analyzed the detailed allocation results of deceased donor liver transplantation (DDLT) during the first 2 years after the MELD score-based liver allocation system implementation at a high-volume liver transplantation (LT) center in Korea.

Results

This study included 174 patients with age above 12 years. The patient ABO blood groups were A (n=65, 37.4%), B (n=51, 29.3%), O (n=28, 16.1%), and AB (n=30, 17.2%). The LT types were primary LT in 141 patients (81.0%) and retransplantation in 33 (19.0%). The Korean Network for Organ Sharing status categories at LT were as follows: status 1 (n=11, 6.3%), status 2 (n=82, 47.1%), status 3 (n=63, 36.2%), and status 4 (n=18, 10.3%). The mean MELD score at LT and waiting period were 36.6±4.6 and 62.1±98.2 days in blood group A; 37.6±3.6 and 25.7±38.1 days in blood group B; 38.8±2.7 and 26.0±30.5 days in blood group O; and 34.8±5.5 and 68.4±110.5 days in blood group AB (P<0.001 and P=0.012), respectively. Patients with blood group O and AB had the highest and lowest mean MELD scores at LT allocation, respectively.

Conclusions

Serious deceased organ donor shortage resulted in very high MELD score cutoffs for DDLT allocation. Additionally, a significant inequality was observed in the possibility for DDLT according to blood group compatibility. Nationwide follow-up studies are necessary to precisely determine the allocation status of DDLT.