A single center experience of combined liver and kidney transplantation / 中华器官移植杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To summarize the experience of treating the end stage of liver disease complicated with renal failure using combined liver-kidney transplantation.Methods The clinical data of 28 cases receiving combined liver-kidney transplantation were retrospectively analyzed, including the inclusion criteria of surgical indications, modus operandi, protocol of immunosuppression and the prognosis post-operation.Results Among these 28 cases in our study, 22 cases suffered from liver and renal failure, accounting for 78.6%; 4 cases were diagnosed as having hepatorenal syndrome, accounting for 14.3%; and 1 case had hyperoxaluria and polycystic liver with polycystic kidney. As for the modus operandi we used, piggy-back procedure was adopted for 4 patients and classic procedure without bypass was used for the rest. Donor kidneys were all put in the right iliac fossa. During the follow-up period of 5 months to 7 years, one-and 3-year survival rate of the recipients was 92.9% and 78.3% respectively. Among these 28 recipients, 4 cases had the graft renal dysfunction early post-operation One died and 3 recovered through consecutive therapy. One case received re-transplantation of the liver 3 months after the first due to the relevant complications and then recovered. During this period, no impact on the renal function occurred. Eleven cases had pulmonary infection post-operation, and 1 died. No acute rejection occurred.Conclusion Combined liver-kidney transplantation is the effective treatment to the patients with end stage liver disease complicated with renal dysfunction. Suitable case selection and perfect operation timing were the key points to the success of combined liver-kidney transplantation.