Liver transplantations in Bulgaria--initial experience.

The filed of liver transplantation (LT) continues to evolve and is highly effective therapy for many patients with acute and chronic liver failure resulting from a variety of causes. Improvement of perioperative care, surgical technique and immunosuppression in recent years has led to its transformation into a safe and routine procedure with steadily improving results. The aim of this paper is to present the initial experience of the transplant team at Military Medical Academy - Sofia, Bulgaria. For the period of April 2007 - August 2014 the team performed 38 liver transplants in 37 patients (one retransplantation). Patients were followed up prospectively and retrospectively. In 36 (95%) patients a graft from a cadaveric donor was used and in two cases--a right liver grafts from live donor. The mean MELD score of the transplanted patients was 17 (9-40). The preferred surgical technique was "piggyback" with preservation of inferior vena cava in 33 (86%) of the cases and classical technique in 3 (8%) patients. The overall complication rate was 48%. Early mortality rate was 13% (5 patients). The overall 1- and 5-year survival is 81% and 77% respectivelly. The setting of a new LT program is a complex process which requires the effort and effective colaboration of a wide range of speciacialists (hepatologists, surgeons, anesthesiologists, psychologists, therapists, coordinators, etc.) and institutions. The good results are function of a proper selection of the donors and the recipients. Living donation is an alternative in the shortage of cadaveric donors.

Single centre experience with surgical treatment of hilar cholangiocarcinoma.

UNLABELLED: BACKGROUND /AIMS: Surgical resection is a radical treatment option for hilar cholangiocarcinomas. However it is still difficult to cure and patient prognosis is poor. An evaluation of the surgical options and results may elucidate effective treatments. METHODOLOGY: We retrospectively examined the demographic characteristics, surgical records and outcome in 64 patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma undergoing surgical resections or palliative surgical procedures for the period of 2004-2012. RESULTS: The patients included 43 males and 17 females with a mean age of 61.4 ± 10.4 years (±SD, range 35-81 years). Forty four resections were done - R0-22 cases (34.4%), R1 - 10 (15.6 %) cases, R2 -12 cases (18.7%) and 20 palliative (31.3%) operations were performed. R0 - resection of common bile ducts with right hepatectomy with Sg 1 was done in 8 cases, resection of common hepatic duct with left hepatectomy with Sg 1 in 9 cases and resection of common hepatic duct in 5 cases. The total percentage of postoperative morbidity is 51.5 %. The types of complications are as follows: intra abdominal bleeding 31.25 %, temporary biliary leakage - 26.56 %, leakage of hepatico-jejunostomyâ7.81 %, biliary fistula 7.81%, liver insufficiency 17.18 %, pleural effusion 48.13 %, intraabdominal abscess 28.13 %, surgical site infection 48.3 %. The mean five-year overall survival for R0 - resection is 32%, for R1 - and R2 - resection is 12% and for the palliative operations - 0%. The mean overall survival for R0-resection is 37 months, for R1 - and R2 - resection is 19 months and for the palliative operations 7 months. CONCLUSIONS: Radically extended surgical resection for hilar cholangiocarcinoma is necessary to obtain improved patient survival.