Influence of early biliary complications on survival rates after pediatric liver transplantation-A positive outlook.

BACKGROUND: Early biliary complications (EBC) constitute a burden after pediatric liver transplantation frequently requiring immediate therapy. We aimed to assess the impact of EBC on short- and long-term patient and graft survival as well as post-transplant morbidity. METHODS: We analyzed 121 pediatric liver transplantations performed between 1984 and 2019 at the Medical University of Innsbruck for the occurrence of early (<90 days) biliary complications and investigated the influence of EBC on patient and graft survival. RESULTS: Early biliary complications occurred in 30 (24.8%) out of the 121 pediatric liver transplant recipients. Patient survival at 15 years (89.2% vs. 84.2%, p = .65) and all-cause (82.5% vs. 74.0%) and death-censored graft survival (82.5% vs. 75.1%, p = .71) at 10 years were similar between the EBC and the non-EBC group. The EBC group had a significantly longer ICU (25 vs. 16 days, p < .001) and initial hospital stay (64 vs. 42 days, p = .002). Livers of patients with EBC were characterized by multiple bile ducts (33.3% vs. 13.2%, p = .027), and patients with EBC had a higher risk to develop late biliary complications (OR 2.821 [95% CI 1.049-7.587], p = .044) and bowel obstruction/perforation (OR 4.388 [95% CI 1.503-12.812], p = .007). CONCLUSION: Early biliary complications after pediatric liver transplantation is frequent. The occurrence of EBC significantly increased post-transplant morbidity without affecting mortality. Multiple bile ducts were the only risk factor for the development of EBC in our cohort.

Relationship between hepatic arterial buffer response and early biliary complications and small-for-size syndrome after living donor liver transplantation / 中华肝胆外科杂志

Objective To study the relationship between hepatic arterial buffer response (HABR),recovery of liver function,early biliary complications and small-for-size syndrome (SFSS).Methods Early hepatic hemodynamic parameters (including hepatic arterial flow (HAF),portal venous flow (PVF) were measured using duplex Doppler sonography in 34 patients who received living donor liver transplantation (preoperatively n＝26,intraoperatively n=26) and on postoperative days 1,2,3,and 7.Alanine aminotransferase (ALT),aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and total bilirubin (TBIL) level were measured preoperatively and on postoperative days 1,2,3,7,14,21,and 28.If TBIL level was elevated,we used B ultrasonography or CT and even ERCP to diagnose early biliary complications.The days taken for AST,AI T and TBIL to recover and the number of patients with early (＜60 days) biliary complications (bile leakage or bile stricture) and with small-for-size syndrome (SFSS) were recorded.Results Passive hepatic artery buffer response (HABR) was present in 11 patients early after living donor liver transplantation (group 1) and it disappeared in 23 patients (group 2).The recovery in days taken for normalization of AST (10.6± 8.8),AIT (11.6±9.0) and TBlL (average of 29) in group 1 were shorter than in group 2.However,the differences did not reach statistics difference (P＞0.05).The overall incidences of early biliary complications and small-for-size syndrome (SFSS) in group 1 were significantly lower than in group 2 (P=0.04).The survival rate in group 1 was 82 ％,compared with 74 ％ in group 2.Conclusions Passive hepatic arterial buffer response (HABR) disappeared in some patients early after living donor liver transplantation.There were high incidences of early biliary complications and small-for-size syndrome (SFSS) in these patients.Measurcment of hepatic buffer response in the early stage after living donor liver tranaplanta tion is valuable for predition of early biliary complications and small-for-size syndrome (SFSS),thus helping to prevent failure in transplantation.