Graft Regeneration and Functional Recovery in Patients with Early Allograft Dysfunction After Living-Donor Liver Transplantation

BACKGROUND Successful graft regeneration is important in living-donor liver transplantation (LDLT) because partial liver grafts are used. Early allograft dysfunction (EAD) is an intermediate outcome that affects the long-term postoperative course in liver transplantation. The aim of the present study was to investigate liver graft regeneration under EAD development in LDLT. MATERIAL AND METHODS The data of 226 patients who underwent LDLT from September 2010 to July 2014 were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were classified into 2 groups: one with and one without EAD. Graft regeneration, functional recovery, and long-term patient survival were compared between the 2 groups. RESULTS The grafts grew more vigorously in the EAD group than in the non-EAD group, as evidenced by the larger absolute (ALV) and relative liver volumes (RLV) of the former on postoperative days (POD) 7 and 21. The median (interquartile range) RLVs of the non-EAD group versus the EAD group were as follows: 55.2 (47.9-65.8) vs. 53.7 (46.6-64.5)% preoperatively, p>0.05; 76.1 (66.9-85.7) vs. 86.7 (73.9-96.8)% on POD 7, p<0.01; 79.6 (69.3-91.2) vs. 93.7 (79.6-101.6)%, p<0.01 on POD 21. In the early postoperative period, hepatic function, measured as total bilirubin and international normalized ratio, was higher in the EAD group; however, after EAD development, graft function recovered in these patients. In the follow-up period, overall patient survival was comparable between the 2 groups. CONCLUSIONS The liver grafts of EAD patients steadily regenerated, such that the development of EAD did not affect long-term patient survival after LDLT.