Adult-to-adult living-related donor liver transplantation: report of 2 cases / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the feasibility and safety of adult-to-adult living-related donor liver transplantation using a right lobe graft.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The clinical data of 2 cases of living-related donor liver transplantation performed between July, 2010 and November, 2010 were analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Liver transplantation was performed using a right lobe graft including the middle hepatic vein in one case and a right lobe graft without the middle hepatic vein in the other. The ratio of graft volume to standard liver volume was 46.2% and 47.3% in the two cases, with GR/WR of 0.83 and 0.80, and donor residue liver of 42.1% and 39.5%, respectively. The donor operation lasted for 6.5 h and 5 h in the two cases with blood loss of about 200-250 ml without blood transfusion. The donors recovered uneventfully without any surgical complications, whose liver function was normal 7 days after the operation, and were discharged 14 days and 16 days after the surgery, respectively. The recipient operation lasted for 8 h and 7 h with blood loss of about 800-1000 ml. The right hepatic vein, hepatic artery, portal vein and bile duct reconstruction were performed by end-to-end anastomoses in the 2 recipients. Bile duct anastomosis stricture occurred in the first recipient 2 months after transplantation and was treated with percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography and drainage. The second recipient recovered smoothly without any complications. The recipients have so far survived 9 months and 5 months, respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Adult-to-adult living-related donor liver transplantation is a safe and effective option for treatment of end-stage liver diseases in the context of cadaveric liver graft shortage.</p>

Therapeutic efficacy of Nexavar on liver cancer and its relation to the expression of Ki-67 and CD34 / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the therapeutic effects of Nexavar on liver cancer and its relation to the expressions of Ki-67 and CD34.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Twenty-eight patients with liver cancer were treated with Nexavar. The therapeutic efficacy of Nexavar on liver cancer was observed. Liver cancer tissues were examined for the expressions of Ki-67 and CD34 by immunohistochemistry. Microvessel density (MVD) was calculated according to the expression of CD34.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Of 28 patients, none achieved a complete response (CR), 12 had a partial response (PR), 7 had stable disease (SD), and 9 progressive disease (PD). The efficacy of Nexavar was associated significantly with Ki-67 expression. The mean MVD count was 346.03-/+146.98 in PR patients, and 89.14-/+45.66 in PD patients. There was a significant difference in MVD between PR and PD patients.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>There is a better efficacy of Nexavar in treatment of liver cancer in the patients who had Ki-67-positive expression and high MVD count.</p>

Clinical research of donor liver procurement and preparation in liver transplantation / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To summarize the experience of donor liver procurement and preparation in liver transplantation.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>One hundred and twenty-six cases of donor liver and kidney procurement and 105 cases of donor liver preparation from August, 2004 to December, 2006 were analyzed. The 105 donor liver grafts were all used for orthotopic liver transplantation.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The warm ischemia time of the graft ranged from 1 to 8.5 min with a mean of 4 min. The time of graft procurement ranged from 19 to 28 min (mean 22.5 min). Donor liver preparation lasted for 38 to 102 min in the 105 cases, with a mean of 51 min. The cold ischemia time of the donor liver was 5.5 to 13 h (mean 8 h). Anatomical variations were identified in 8 of the donor liver grafts.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Cold perfusion of the donor liver and repair of the hepatic artery are important procedures in donor liver procurement and preparation. Hemorrhage due to the donor graft should be prevented and the procedures should be performed in close cooperation with the recipient operation.</p>

Effect of immunonanoparticles loaded with adriamycin on multidrug-resistant liver cancer in nude mice / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the effect of the immunonanoparticles loaded with adriamycin in reversing multidrug resistance (MDR) in liver cancer in a nude mouse model and explore the possible mechanisms.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The cytotoxicity of adriamycin, adriamycin-loaded nanoparticles, and adriamycin-loaded immunonanoparticles was assessed in a nude mouse model bearing implant tumors of adriamycin-resistant hepatoma cell line SMMC-7721/ADM. The concentration of adriamycin in the tumor tissue was determined.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Adriamycin-loaded immunonanoparticles showed significantly stronger cytotoxicity against the implant tumors of SMMC-7721/ADM than adriamycin-loaded nanoparticles and adriamycin. Administration of adriamycin-loaded immunonanoparticles resulted in significantly higher drug concentrations in the tumor tissue than adriamycin-loaded nanoparticles and adriamycin.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Adriamycin-loaded immunonanoparticles may reverse the MDR of liver cancers in vivo probably resulting from the close binding of the particles with the tumor cells to produce a high local concentration of adriamycin in the tumors.</p>

Analysis of factors for bacterial infection following liver transplantation / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the association of surgical skills, anhepatic time and preoperative hepatic function grading with bacteria infection after the liver transplantation and identify the common bacterial flora involved for effective prevention and treatment of the posttransplant bacterial infection. METHODS;The clinical records of 31 cases of liver transplantation from August 2004 to August 2005 were reviewed and the collected data were analyzed statistically. RESULTS; Among the 31 cases, posttransplant bacterial infection occurred in 16 cases accounting for a total incidence of 51.61%, with the incidence of multi-system (or multi-organ) infection of 22.58%. The earlier cases had longer average surgery time and anhepatic period than the later cases, with also higher incidence of infection. Among the 19 patients with hepatic function class A before surgery, 7 acquired bacterial infection involving one system or organ, 2 had infections compromising multiple system or organ. In the 8 patients of hepatic function class B before surgery, 2 had single-system or -organ infection and 1 multi-system or -organ infection. Four out of the 5 patients with hepatic function class C before surgery acquired posttransplant bacterial infections, all involving multiple systems or organs. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was the most common bacteria responsible for the infections in these cases.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Improvement of surgical skills can obviously reduce the incidence of bacterial infection after liver transplantation. No evidences suggest the correlation between the incidence of infections (including severe ones) and hepatic function class A or B before the operation, whereas patients with preoperative hepatic function class C seems to be at higher risk for infection involving multiple systems or organs. The anhepatic time does not significantly impact on the incidence or severity of the posttransplant infections, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the most common bacteria causing the infections.</p>