Evaluation of ear, nose, and throat-screening in liver transplantation candidates: A retrospective cohort study.
Transpl Infect Dis
; 26(1): e14226, 2024 Feb.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38151992
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Patients with end-stage liver disease can be treated with a liver transplantation (LT). Before listing, candidates are subjected to a screening procedure according to the EASL Clinical Practice Guidelines for LT. In our hospital, this includes an ear, nose, and throat (ENT) examination, directed towards the identification of (asymptomatic) infections and head and neck malignancies.METHODS:
We retrospectively reviewed all ENT screening examinations in LT candidates from 2007 to 2022. The screening consisted of a visit to the ENT outpatient clinic combined with sinus radiography.RESULTS:
ENT screening was performed in 1099 patients. Sixty-one cases were identified, either diagnosed with an infection (n = 58, almost exclusively sinusitis) or a neoplasm (n = 3, of which two malignancies). With binary logistic regression, we could not identify significant risk factors for diagnosing sinusitis. 711 patients underwent LT. After LT, two patients developed a novel malignancy of the head and neck area, while 14 patients were diagnosed with sinusitis, two of the latter already showed opacification on sinus radiography during screening. Despite immunosuppressive drugs, no complicated sinusitis was observed.CONCLUSION:
Sinusitis or a neoplasm was diagnosed in almost 6% in a large cohort of LT candidates. Although almost a third of sinusitis patients were not treated accordingly, we did not observe any complicated sinusitis after LT. A more conservative approach to sinusitis may therefore be justified in LT candidates, especially in asymptomatic cases. At our institution, we aim to refer only those patients with specific ENT complaints .Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Sinusitis
/
Liver Transplantation
/
Neoplasms
Limits:
Humans
Language:
En
Journal:
Transpl Infect Dis
Journal subject:
TRANSPLANTE
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Netherlands
Country of publication:
Denmark