Intellectual development of patients with biliary atresia who underwent living donor liver transplantation in infancy.

BACKGROUND: The impact of pediatric liver transplantation on intellectual development has yet to be determined. We investigated the intellectual outcomes of school-aged patients after living donor liver transplantation for biliary atresia in infancy. METHODS: The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-fourth edition test was administered to 20 patients who survived [Formula: see text] 5 years after living donor liver transplantation. Borderline full scale intelligence quotient was defined as ≤ 85. Pre-, peri-, and postoperative data were compared between patients with > 85 and ≤ 85 to identify predictive factors of borderline performance. RESULTS: The one-sample t test demonstrated that the mean full scale intelligence quotient of patients after transplantation for biliary atresia was significantly lower than that of the general population (91.8 vs. 100.0, p = 0.026) and 7 (35%) were classified as intellectual borderline functioning. Multivariable logistic regression models were unable to identify any factors predictive of full scale intelligence quotients of ≤ 85. CONCLUSION: This is the first study to indicate that the mean full scale intelligence quotient among school-aged patients who underwent living donor liver transplantation for biliary atresia in infancy is significantly lower than that of the general population.