The International Liver Transplantation Society Living Donor Liver Transplant Recipient Guideline.

Living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) has been increasingly embraced around the world as an important strategy to address the shortage of deceased donor livers. The aim of this guideline, approved by the International Liver Transplantation Society (ILTS), is to provide a collection of expert opinions, consensus, and best practices surrounding LDLT. Recommendations were developed from an analysis of the National Library of Medicine living donor transplantation indexed literature using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation methodology. Writing was guided by the ILTS Policy on the Development and Use of Practice Guidelines (www.ilts.org). Intended for use by physicians, these recommendations support specific approaches to the diagnostic, therapeutic, and preventive aspects of care of living donor liver transplant recipients.

The International Liver Transplant Society Guideline on Living Liver Donation.

The following guideline represents the position of the International Liver Transplantation Society (ILTS) on key preoperative, operative, and postoperative aspects surrounding living liver donation. These recommendations were developed from experts in the field from around the world. The authors conducted an analysis of the National Library of Medicine indexed literature on "living donor liver transplantation" [Medline search] using Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation methodology. Writing was guided by the ILTS Policy on the Development and Use of Practice Guidelines (www.ilts.org). ILTS members, and many more nonmembers, were invited to comment. Recommendations have been based on information available at the time of final submission (March 2016). The lack of randomized controlled trials in this field to date is acknowledged and is reflected in the grading of evidence. Intended for use by physicians, these recommendations support specific approaches to the diagnostic, therapeutic, and preventive aspects of care.

Post-liver transplant cholestatic disorder with biliary strictures: de novo versus recurrent primary sclerosing cholangitis.

Cholestatic allograft dysfunction following liver transplantation (LT) can result from many different underlying pathogenetic mechanisms and is a major cause of morbidity and graft loss. Although recurrence of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a described entity following LT, the diagnosis is difficult and requires exclusion of common risk factors for stricture formation. There are no reports in the literature of de novo PSC arising in a patient who did not have that disease prior to transplantation. Reported herein is the case of a patient who underwent transplantation for end-stage cryptogenic cirrhosis and who had no underlying risk factors, but who developed late post-LT cholestatic disorder with non-anastomotic biliary strictures. The combined clinical, radiological, and pathological findings resembled those of PSC. Admittedly, it is a challenging proposition but the possibility of a de novo PSC-like syndrome in this patient is raised. A recurrence in a patient who may have had a burnt-out, PSC-like syndrome presenting as cryptogenic cirrhosis, however, cannot be entirely excluded.

Native liver xanthogranulomatous cholangiopathy in primary sclerosing cholangitis: impact on posttransplant outcome.

A retrospective analysis of 51 primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) patients who underwent liver transplant (LT) identified 16 with xanthogranulomatous cholangiopathy (XGC) at the native liver hilum. Pre-LT clinical and laboratory data and post-LT course and outcome of patients with XGC were compared with the 35 PSC patients without XGC. The XGC and non-XGC groups were similar with respect to age and laboratory data at the time of LT. Pre-LT cholecystectomy was performed in 44% versus 26% and biliary bypass procedure in 38% versus 26% of patients with and without XGC, respectively (P = NS). Peri-operative complications resulted in six (38%) deaths or retransplantation within 60 days of LT in the XGC group compared with 4 (11%) in the non-XGC group (P =.05). Patient survival at 60 and 100 days post-LT was better in the non-XGC group (P =.01). The causes of death or retransplantation within 60 days post-LT in the patients with XGC included primary nongraft function (1), uncontrolled bleeding (3), and sepsis (2), while in the non-XGC group these were uncontrolled bleeding (2), sepsis (1), and primary nongraft function (1). Mean graft survival +/- SD was 1,081 +/- 1,584 days in patients with XGC versus 2,149 +/- 1,679 days in patients without XGC. The presence of XGC in the native liver hilum of PSC patients undergoing LT was associated with a higher rate of early post-LT mortality or retransplantation. In conclusion, no pre-LT clinical features or laboratory tests were identified that predicted the presence of XGC in PSC patients.