Donor Atheromatous Disease is a Risk Factor for Hepatic Artery Thrombosis After Liver Transplantation.

The increasing age of liver donors and transplant candidates, together with the growing prevalence of metabolic comorbidities, could impact the risk of vascular complications after liver transplantation. We enrolled a consecutive cohort of adult patients undergoing liver transplantation from 2012 to 2021 who had a blinded pathological assessment of atherosclerosis in the donor and recipient hepatic arteries (HA). Patients receiving partial or reduced grafts, retransplantation, or combined organ transplantation were excluded. The relationship between HA atherosclerosis and HA thrombosis after liver transplantation was evaluated using logistic regression in the whole study cohort and in a propensity score-matched subpopulation. Among 443 eligible patients, 272 had a full pathological evaluation of the donor and recipient HA and were included in the study. HA atheroma was present in 51.5% of donors and in 11.4% of recipients. HA thrombosis occurred in 16 patients (5.9%), being more likely in patients who received a donor with HA atherosclerosis than in those without (10.7% vs. 0.8%; p < 0.001). Donor HA atherosclerosis was an independent risk factor of HA thrombosis (OR = 17.79; p = 0.008), and this finding was consistent in the propensity score-matched analysis according to age, sex, complex arterial anastomosis, and alcoholic liver disease (OR = 19.29; p = 0.007). Atheromatous disease in the recipient had no influence on the risk of HA thrombosis (OR = 1.70; p = 0.55). In conclusion, patients receiving donors with HA atherosclerosis are at increased risk for HA thrombosis after liver transplantation. The evaluation of the donor graft vasculature could guide antiplatelet therapy in the postoperative period.

Kidney injury associated with liver transplantation.

INTRODUCTION: Kidney injury associated with paediatric liver transplantation (LT) is common, but its evaluation is challenging. Our aim was to analyse the presence of perioperative acute kidney injury (AKI) and study the prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) using different glomerular filtration rate (GFR) estimation formulas. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study in a cohort of children aged less than 18 years with a history of LT followed up for 5.42 years. We estimated the GFR using the creatinine-based Schwartz bedside formula (2009), the cystatin C-based Caucasian Asian Pediatric and Adult cohort (CAPA) equation and the combined Full-Age Spectrum (FAS) formula as modified by Pottel. We analysed the agreement between them using the Bland-Altman method and the kappa statistic. We measured the albumin level in urine, the urine volume adjusted to 100 mL of GFR and blood pressure. We performed univariate and multivariate analyses of the risk factors associated with CKD. RESULTS: The sample included 52 patients with a median age of 9.21 years. Fifteen (28.8%) had AKI. Five (10%) had CKD and the only associated risk factor was acute liver failure at the time of LT (odds ratio, 8.57; P = 0.04). There was poor agreement between the different estimation formulas. One patient was classified as having CKD with the Schwartz formula compared to four patients with the CAPA and the Pottel combined FAS formulas. Up to 42% of children without CKD had some positive marker of kidney injury. CONCLUSIONS: The exclusive use of the 2009 Schwartz bedside formula to estimate GFR may lead to underdiagnosis of CKD in children post LT. Other markers of kidney injury are common, and their detection may help prevent the progression of CKD.

Enumeration and Characterization of Circulating Tumor Cells in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma Undergoing Transarterial Chemoembolization.

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs), and particularly circulating cancer stem cells (cCSC), are prognostic biomarkers for different malignancies and may be detected using liquid biopsies. The ex vivo culture of cCSCs would provide valuable information regarding biological aggressiveness and would allow monitoring the adaptive changes acquired by the tumor in real time. In this prospective pilot study, we analyzed the presence of EpCAM+ CTCs using the IsoFlux system in the peripheral blood of 37 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma undergoing transarterial chemoembolization (TACE). The average patient age was 63.5 ± 7.9 years and 91.9% of the patients were men. All patients had detectable CTCs at baseline and 20 patients (54.1%) showed CTC aggregates or clusters in their peripheral blood. The increased total tumor diameter (OR: 2.5 (95% CI: 1.3-4.8), p = 0.006) and the absence of clusters of CTCs at baseline (OR: 0.2 (95% CI: 0.0-1.0), p = 0.049) were independent predictors of a diminished response to TACE. Culture of cCSC was successful in five out of thirty-three patients, mostly using negative enrichment of CD45- cells, ultra-low adherence, high glucose, and a short period of hypoxia followed by normoxia. In conclusion, the identification of clusters of CTCs before TACE and the implementation of standardized approaches for cCSC culture could aid to predict outcomes and to define the optimal adjuvant therapeutic strategy for a true personalized medicine in hepatocellular carcinoma.