ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: To determine clinical and health-related quality of life outcomes, and to derive an "ideal" composite profile of children alive 10 years after pediatric liver transplantation (LT) performed in the US and Canada. STUDY DESIGN: This was a multicenter cross-sectional analysis characterizing patients enrolled in the Studies of Pediatric Liver Transplantation database registry who have survived >10 years from LT. RESULTS: A total of 167 10-year survivors were identified, all of whom received daily immunosuppression therapy. Comorbidities associated with the post-LT course included post-transplantation lymphoproliferative disease (in 5% of patients), renal dysfunction (9%), and impaired linear growth (23%). Health-related quality of life, as assessed by the PedsQL 4.0 Generic Core Scales, revealed lower patient self-reported total scale scores for 10-year survivors compared with matched healthy children (77.2±12.9 vs 84.9±11.7; P<.001). At 10 years post-LT, only 32% of patients achieved an ideal profile of a first allograft stable on immunosuppression monotherapy, normal growth, and absence of common immunosuppression-induced sequelae. CONCLUSION: Success after pediatric LT has moved beyond patient survival. Availability of an ideal composite profile at follow-up provides opportunities for patients, families, and healthcare providers to identify broader sets of outcomes at earlier stages, ultimately contributing to improved outcomes after pediatric LT.
Subject(s)
Health Status , Liver Transplantation/mortality , Quality of Life , Survivors/statistics & numerical data , Transplantation Immunology , Adolescent , Age Distribution , Child , Child Welfare , Child, Preschool , Cross-Sectional Studies , Databases, Factual , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Graft Rejection , Graft Survival , Humans , Incidence , Infant , Liver Failure/diagnosis , Liver Failure/surgery , Liver Transplantation/immunology , Liver Transplantation/methods , Male , Ontario , Postoperative Complications/diagnosis , Postoperative Complications/mortality , Sex Distribution , Time Factors , Treatment Outcome , United StatesABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: To test the hypothesis that risk analysis from the time of listing for liver transplantation (LT) focuses attention on areas where outcomes can be improved. STUDY DESIGN: Competing outcomes and multivariate models were used to determine significant risk factors for pretransplantation and posttransplantation mortality and graft failure in patients with biliary atresia (BA) listed for LT and enrolled in the Studies of Pediatric Liver Transplantation (SPLIT) registry. RESULTS: Of 755 patients, most were infants (age < 1 year). Significant waiting list mortality risk factors included infancy and pediatric end-stage liver disease (PELD) score > or = 20, whose components were also continuous risk factors. Survival posttransplantation (n=567) was 88% at 3 years. Most deaths were from infection (37%). Posttransplantation mortality risk factors included infant recipients, height/weight < -2 standard deviations (SD), use of cyclosporine versus tacrolimus and retransplantation. Graft failure risks included height/weight < -2 SD, cadaveric partial donors, donor age < or = 5 months, use of cyclosporine versus tacrolimus, and rejection. CONCLUSIONS: Referral for LT should be anticipatory for infants with BA with failed portoenterostomies. Failing nutrition should prompt aggressive support. Post-LT risk factors are mainly nonsurgical, including nutrition, the relative risk of infection over rejection, and the choice of immunosuppression.
