Safety assessment of RhD-positive red cell transfusion in RhD-negative liver-transplant recipients: Single-centre report from India.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: The number of blood components required during a liver-transplant surgery is significant. It is challenging for blood transfusion services to provide the required RhD-negative red blood cells (RBCs) for recipients during the peri-operative period. This retrospective study presents safety data of transfusing RhD-positive RBCs in RhD-negative living donor liver-transplant (LDLT) recipients during the peri-operative period with six-month follow up for risk of developing alloantibodies. METHODS: All RhD-negative patients who underwent LDLT and were transfused ABO-compatible but RhD-positive RBC units between January 2012 and May 2018 were included in the study. Twenty one RhD-negative patients who received a total of 167 RhD-positive RBCs peri-operatively were chosen for alloantibody screening. All the patients were started on triple immunosuppression drugs as per the standard hospital protocol. Blood grouping, cross-match and antibody screening were done by column agglutination technique. RESULTS: Post-transplant antibody screen (weekly for 12 wk) was negative, and none of the patients developed anti-D alloantibodies till their last follow up (mean 21 months). INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSIONS: Our observations suggest that it may be safe to use RhD-positive RBCs peri-operatively in RhD-negative LDLT recipients with low risk of alloimmunization.

Improving Poor Outcomes of Children With Biliary Atresia in South Africa by Early Referral to Centralized Units.

Biliary atresia (BA) is a progressive fibrosing cholangiopathy of infancy, the most common cause of cholestatic jaundice in infants and the top indication for liver transplantation in children. Kasai portoenterostomy (KPE) when successful may delay the requirement for liver transplantation, which in the majority offers the only cure. Good outcomes demand early surgical intervention, appropriate management of liver cirrhosis, and in most cases, liver transplantation. These parameters were audited of children with BA treated at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital (SBAH) in Pretoria, South Africa. Methods: All children with BA who were managed at SBAH between June 2007 and July 2018 were included. Parameters measured centered on patient demographics, timing of referral and surgical intervention, immediate and long-term outcomes of surgery, and follow-up management. Results: Of 104 children treated, 94 (90%) were KPE naive. Only 23/86 (26%) of children were referred before 60 days of life and 42/86 (49%) after 120 days. Median time to surgical assessment and surgery was 4 (IQR 1-70) and 5 (IQR 1-27) days post presentation, respectively. The median age at KPE was 91 days (IQR 28-165), with only 4/41 (12%) of KPEs performed before 60 days of life. Of those with recorded outcomes, 12/33 (36%) achieved resolution of jaundice. Only a third of the cohort were referred for transplantation. Conclusion: Children with BA have poor outcomes in the public health sector in South Africa. Late referrals, delayed diagnostics, advanced age at KPE with low drainage rates, poor follow-up, and low transplant rates account for low survival. Early referral to units offering expert intervention at all stages of care, including transplantation, would offer the best outcomes.

Challenges and Outcome of Left-lobe Liver Transplants in Adult Living Donor Liver Transplants.

Adult-to-adult living donor liver transplant (LDLT) frequently depend on using the right-lobes of the donor for obtaining adequate graft-to-recipient weight ratio (GRWR) of over 0.8% in the recipient. However, left-lobes remain an important option in adults, since the morbidity in the donor is considerably less with left donor hepatectomy when compared with right side liver resection. Further benefits of left-lobes in LDLT include more predictable anatomy of the left hepatic duct and left portal vein, which are usually long and single resulting in easier anastomosis in the recipient. Likewise, left-lobe grafts are easier to implant with an excellent venous outflow through the combined orifice of left and middle hepatic vein, as opposed to the complex hepatic vein reconstruction required in right-lobe grafts. However, left hepatic artery is often multiple unlike the right hepatic artery. The holy grail of left-lobe transplants is avoidance of small for size syndrome (SFSS) in the recipients. The strategies for overcoming SFSS currently depend on circumventing portal hyperperfusion in the graft. Measurement of portal pressure and modulating it if high, by splenic artery ligation, splenectomy, or hemiportocaval shunts are proving successful in avoiding SFSS. The future aim in adult LDLT should be to use the left-lobe as much as possible for the benefit of the donor at the same time avoiding SFSS even at very low GRWR for the benefit of the recipient.