HLA alloimmunization and blood requirements in orthotopic liver transplantation.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to C O Esquivel.
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During the cyclosporine era 1980-1984, 393 consecutive orthotopic liver transplantations (OLT) were performed in 313 patients at the University of Pittsburgh. This paper analyses the long-term results in this group of patients who have been followed-up for a minimum of three years. The results of OLT for different indications are discussed. The five-year survival rates after OLT for metabolic diseases, biliary atresia, primary biliary cirrhosis, posthepatic cirrhosis and primary hepatobiliary cancer are 75%, 68%, 60%, 58.9%, 53.2% and 23.8%, respectively. Recurrence of the primary disease after OLT is rare for benign diseases but rather frequent for malignant ones. The incidence of retransplantation for delayed rejection and for extrahepatic complications is discussed. The quality of life for most of the long-term survivors is good. Because of its good long-term results, OLT should become the therapy of choice in a lot of acute and chronic hepatopathies.
Ten patients received liver transplants for unresectable epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (EHE). At the time of transplantation, four patients had microscopic metastases to the hilar lymph nodes, and one of the four also had metastases to a rib. The fifth patient had metastases to the lung, pleura, and diaphragm. The remaining five patients were believed to be free of metastatic disease. Two of these five patients died of metastatic disease at 3 and 16 months, respectively, after transplantation. Interestingly, all five patients with metastatic involvement are currently alive 40.6 +/- 22 months (mean +/- standard error of mean [SEM]) after transplantation, although one of these patients currently has metastatic disease to the lungs and mediastinum. Thus, the projected 5-year actuarial survival rate is 76%, with two patients at risk after the third year. In conclusion, liver transplantation is a reasonable procedure for bulky, otherwise unresectable, EHE even in the presence of metastatic disease.
The differential diagnosis of liver dysfunction after orthotopic liver transplantation can be difficult. Cytomegalovirus (CMV) hepatitis is one possibility. This report reviews our experience with 17 cases of pathologically proven CMV hepatitis following liver transplantation and demonstrates the need for percutaneous liver biopsies to establish the diagnosis. There were seven pediatric patients (ages 2-11 years, five males, two females) and ten adult patients (ages 17-53 years, eight males, two females). The most common symptoms were prolonged fever (15 patients, with a mean duration of 22 +/- 5.5 days), elevation in total bilirubin (14 patients), and elevation in liver enzymes (15 patients); all symptoms were also found in rejection. Leukopenia and thrombocytopenia, reported to frequently occur with CMV infection, were found in only three and five patients, respectively. Twelve patients with the above symptoms underwent percutaneous biopsy on one or more occasions to differentiate CMV hepatitis from rejection. The diagnosis was made at retransplantation in five patients. CMV hepatitis followed treatment for acute rejection in 14 patients and occurred without additional immunosuppression in three patients. All patients were maintained on cyclosporine and prednisone. Acute rejection episodes were treated with a 5-day tapering dose of steroids (17 courses in 12 patients), OKT3 monoclonal antibody [Ortho (4 patients)] antithymocyte globulin [Upjohn (2 patients)], and azathioprine (1 patient). CMV was isolated from urine (nine patients), blood (nine patients), throat (seven patients), lungs (two patients), and other organs (two patients). CMV was cultured from the liver biopsy specimens in five of the seven attempts in pediatric patients. When the diagnosis was confirmed in the absence of rejection, immunosuppression was routinely lowered. When rejection occurred concomitantly with CMV hepatitis, therapy had to be individualized. Retrospectively, three patients treated for rejection were noted at retransplantation to have only CMV hepatitis, and all three patients died. A high index of suspicion and the judicious use of liver biopsies is essential in order to differentiate CMV hepatitis from other causes of posttransplant liver dysfunction.
Primary biliary cirrhosis is a frequent indication for liver transplantation. The purpose of this report is to present our experience with liver transplantation for primary biliary cirrhosis. Attention is given to the causes of hepatic dysfunction seen in allografts. In addition, we review the postoperative problems encountered and the quality of life at time of last follow-up in patients with transplants for primary biliary cirrhosis. A total of 97 orthotopic liver transplant procedures were performed in 76 patients with advanced primary biliary cirrhosis at the University of Pittsburgh from March 1980 through September 1985. The transplant operation was relatively easy to perform. The most common technical complications experienced were fragmentation and intramural dissection of the recipient hepatic artery, which required an arterial graft in 20% of the cases. Most of the postoperative mortality occurred in the first 6 mo after transplantation, with an essentially flat actuarial life survival curve from that time point to a projected 5-yr survival of 66%. Common causes of death included rejection and primary graft nonfunction. Thirteen of the 76 patients had some hepatic dysfunction at the time of the last follow-up, although none were jaundiced. Recurrence of primary biliary cirrhosis could not be demonstrated in any of the patients. Antimitochondrial antibody was detected in the serum of almost all of the patients studied postoperatively for it. Most important, almost all of the 52 surviving patients have been rehabilitated socially and vocationally.
Experience with the use of Orthoclone OKT3 monoclonal antibody for the treatment of acute cellular rejection in a series of 130 human orthotopic liver transplantations is reviewed. Treatment was highly effective in reversing rejection, in reducing the rate of retransplantation, and in lowering patient mortality. OKT3 was also useful for cyclosporine sparing in patients with poor renal function, hypertension, or CNS toxicity. There was a significant incidence of opportunistic infection associated with the use of OKT3.
The incidence or diagnostic rate of sclerosing cholangitis is increasing. Because of the lack of effective medical or surgical therapy for patients with end-stage liver disease and sclerosing cholangitis, results with orthotopic liver transplantation were examined. The results of 55 consecutive liver replacements for this disease were reviewed. The 1- and 2-year actuarial survival rates are 71% and 57%, respectively. Orthotopic liver transplantation for end-stage liver disease from sclerosing cholangitis has emerged as the most effective therapy.
In a retrospective study of proved pseudoaneurysms (PAs) in 15 patients with transplanted organs (11 liver, three kidney, one pancreas), the results of computed tomography (CT), duplex sonography, and angiography were reviewed. Of the 15 cases of PA, eight occurred at the arterial anastomosis and seven were nonanastomotic. Three of the eight anastomotic PAs were caused by infection. Of the seven nonanastomotic PAs, four were caused by percutaneous biopsy, two were caused by infection, and one was of undetermined cause. In nine (60%) of the 15 patients the PAs were incidentally detected at imaging studies performed for other reasons. Diagnosis requires a high degree of suspicion. CT was performed in nine cases and duplex sonography in ten. The diagnosis of PA was made with CT in six (67%) patients and with duplex sonography in five (50%). CT and duplex sonography could not enable diagnosis when the PA was small, when the arterial anastomosis was not included in the field of study, or when enhancement with intravenously administered contract material was suboptimal. Angiography depicted the PAs in all 15 patients. In three liver transplant recipients with gastrointestinal tract bleeding, the causative PAs were detected only with angiography.
Acute humorally mediated rejection of organ allografts has long been recognized in kidney transplantation as the syndrome of hyperacute rejection. This reaction precludes renal transplantation across the major blood-group system and in many other instances in which preformed antibodies are present in the host. There is increasing evidence of the importance of humoral rejection in graft survival following liver transplantation. Although the antibodies responsible for this process have seldom been definitively identified, it is clear that the antibodies of the major blood-group system are of particular importance. Humoral rejection of a transplanted liver has not been well documented previously in a pediatric recipient. We present a case illustrating acute hepatic graft failure resulting from circulating anti-B IgM isohemagglutinins following an ABO-unmatched liver transplantation.
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One of 55 patients transplanted for sclerosing cholangitis during the cyclosporin-steroid era (March 1980-June 1986) developed intrahepatic biliary strictures in the absence of allograft rejection within the 1st year posttransplantation. Although many causes underlie biliary pathology in the postoperative period (i.e., arterial injury, ischemia, chronic rejection, cholangitis), recurrent disease remains a possibility.
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