[Hepatic artery thrombosis in the pediatric liver transplant]. / La trombosis de la arteria hepática en el trasplante hepático pediátrico.

The hepatic artery thrombosis (HAT) is the most serious complication after pediatric liver transplantation. Most of the cases will need a retransplantation. Multiple factors are keeping in discussion as causes of this complication: Rejection, two or more arteries, complex vascular reconstruction, etc. This article describes our experience with this complication and the prophylactic treatment. From January 1986 through April 1991, 62 orthotopic liver transplants were performed on 48 pediatric patients with a mean age of seven years. The incidence of hepatic artery thrombosis was 19 per 100, increasing when recipients were less than three years and less than 15 kg (23.8 per 100). Forty six cases were rearterialized with end-to-end anastomoses, ten were rearterialized by directly anastomosing them to the recipient aorta and six with iliac artery graft. We use in the last 38 consecutive patients prophylactic heparin during two weeks after transplantation (300 u/kg/d) following with antiaggregants. There were eleven patients with hepatic artery thrombosis, one of them had two episodes in both grafts. We perform a retransplantation in eight patients, two died waiting a new graft and one exceptional patient is out of the clinic with normal liver function and without regraft. Seventeen grafts had two or more arteries from aorta, ten with branches from superior mesenteric artery and five from gastric artery. One graft had a triple hepatic artery and another one was a common hepatic artery from superior mesenteric artery.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

[Surgical evaluation of a liver transplant program. Experiences with the first 45 cases]. / Evaluación quirúrgica de un programa de trasplante hepático. Experiencia de los 45 primeros casos.

The cumulative experience in liver transplantation since the introduction of cyclosporine A has confirmed its efficacy in the treatment of diverse liver diseases in children and adults. In the present study we review the surgical aspects of 45 transplants performed in 39 patients (17 children and 22 adults). Immunosuppressive treatment consisted of cyclosporine A, steroids and monoclonal antibodies (OKT3) in rejection unresponsive to steroids. The actuarial survival rate one year after transplantation was 74%. In the course of development of the program, the elective use of veno-venous bypass during the anhepatic phase in adults was confirmed as useful. Among pediatric transplantations there were numerous arterial malformations (31.5%) in donor organs, which, with the malformations associated in receptors, made allograft reconstruction difficult. Our results confirm those reported by other groups, as well as the importance of specialized training for this type of intervention.

[Liver transplant in fibrolamellar hepatocarcinoma: apropos of a case. Review of the literature]. / Trasplante hepático en hepatocarcinoma fibrolamelar: a propósito de un caso. Revisión de la literatura.

A case is presented of fibrolamellar hepatocarcinoma in a 12 year-old male treated by liver transplantation; there is no evidence of tumoral recurrence at 28 months. Donos and receptor were ABO incompatible. The immunosuppressive regimen used was cyclosporine A and low doses of steroids. Fibrolamellar hepatocarcinoma is an infrequent histologic variety that usually affects young people and is generally not associated with hepatitis B infection or cirrhosis. It is often a single tumor, is more susceptible to surgical resection than other varieties of hepatocarcinoma, and is characterized by a relatively unagressive tumoral biology.