Predictive Factors for Survival in Children Receiving Liver Transplants for Wilson's Disease: A Cohort Study Using European Liver Transplant Registry Data.

Liver transplantation (LT) is a rescue therapy for life-threatening complications of Wilson's disease (WD). However, data on the outcome of WD patients after LT are scarce. The aim of our study was to analyze a large pediatric WD cohort with the aim of investigating the longterm outcome of pediatric WD patients after LT and to identify predictive factors for patient and transplant survival. This is a retrospective cohort study using data of all children (<18 years) transplanted for WD enrolled in the European Liver Transplant Registry from January 1968 until December 2013. In total, 338 patients (57.6% female) transplanted at 80 different European centers (1-26 patients per center) were included in this study. The median age at transplantation was 14.0 years (interquartile range [IQR], 11.2-16.1 years); patients were followed up for a median of 5.4 years (IQR, 1.0-10.9 years) after LT. Overall patient survival rates were high with 87% (1-year survival), 84% (5-year survival), and 81% (10-year survival); survival rates increased considerably with the calendar year (P < 0.001). Early age at LT, living donation, and histidine tryptophan ketoglutarate preservation liquid were identified as risk factors for poor patient survival in the multivariate analysis. LT is an excellent treatment option for pediatric patients with WD and associated end-stage liver disease. Longterm outcome in these patients is similar to other pediatric causes for LT. Overall patient and graft survival rates improved considerably over the last decades. To improve future research in the field, the vast variability of allocation strategies should be harmonized and a generally accepted definition or discrimination of acute versus chronic WD needs to be found.

Results of lis2t, a multicenter, randomized study comparing cyclosporine microemulsion with C2 monitoring and tacrolimus with C0 monitoring in de novo liver transplantation.

This is the first multicenter, randomized, open-label study to compare the efficacy and safety of cyclosporine A microemulsion (CsA-ME) (Neoral, Novartis, Basel, Switzerland ) with C2 monitoring versus tacrolimus in de novo liver transplant recipients. Patients were stratified according to hepatitis C virus status and randomized to receive CsA-ME (n= 250) or tacrolimus (n= 245) with steroids, with or without azathioprine. The primary endpoint was the incidence of biopsy-proven acute rejection (BPAR) at 3 months. Secondary endpoints included death or graft loss and safety evaluations at 6 months. The incidence of BPAR at 3 months was 26% in the CsA-ME group and 24% in the tacrolimus group (not significant). At 6 months, 89% of patients receiving CsA-ME and 88% of patients receiving tacrolimus were alive with a functioning graft. Among the hepatitis C virus-positive patients, there was no difference in BPAR, but death or graft loss was more frequent in those receiving tacrolimus (15% vs. 6%, P <0.05). Diabetes mellitus (14% vs. 7%, P <0.02) and diarrhea (29% vs. 14%, P <0.001) were significantly more often reported in patients receiving tacrolimus. The incidence of hypertension was similar in both groups. At 6 months, the median total cholesterol was 4.7 mmol/L (2.9-7.4 mmol/L) in the CsA-ME arm versus 4.3 mmol/L (2.5-6.4 mmol/L) in the tacrolimus arm; the median serum creatinine was 106 micromol/L (52-238 micromol/L) in the CsA-ME arm versus 103 micromol/L (44-477 micromol/L) in the tacrolimus arm. Efficacy is equivalent with CsA-ME using C2 monitoring or tacrolimus in liver transplant recipients. The incidence of adverse events is comparable except for a significantly higher incidence of diabetes mellitus and diarrhea in the tacrolimus group. Both agents are effective primary immunosuppressants in liver transplant recipients.