Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver in Lean Individuals: Clinicobiochemical Correlates of Histopathology in 157 Liver Biopsies from Healthy Liver Donors.

BACKGROUND: Generally diagnosis of non-alcoholic fatty disease is made on imaging, however, mild steatosis is difficult to diagnose on imaging. Liver biopsy is the procedure of choice but is not carried out as it is an invasive procedure. We describe our experience of 157 liver biopsies in living liver donors with normal body mass index (BMI) <23 kg/M2 (lean). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted at a tertiary care center in north India. Data of lean living donors who underwent a liver biopsy before donation were analyzed. Data are presented as percentage, mean, or median (25-75 interquartile range). RESULTS: Of 718 donors who had a liver biopsy before donation, 157 (21.8%) donors were lean (BMI < 23 kg/M2). Seventy-eight percent of lean donors had no or only one metabolic risk factor. Fifty-three (33.7%) of lean donors had nonalcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) in liver biopsy. When donors with NAFL were compared to donors with normal histology, donors with NAFL had significantly higher aspartate transaminase (26.6 ± 7.5 versus 23.7 ± 5.4, p = 0.007), alanine transaminase (33.4 ± 11.7 versus 27.8 ± 10.7, p = 0.003), and gamma glutamyl transpeptidase [25 (16-40.5) versus 18 (14-23), p = 0.003]. Only triglycerides (TGs) were statistically different among metabolic factors in lean NAFL and normal histology groups, 97 (70-161) versus 86 (62.5-114.7), p = 0.043. A total of 30% donors in the lean NAFL group had TGs >150 mg/dl as compared with 12.5% in the normal histology group, p = 0.009. Other metabolic risk factors were not statistically different. CONCLUSION: One third of lean donors had NAFL. Among all metabolic risk factors, only higher TGs levels showed a significant association with NAFL.

Delayed Graft Dysfunction due to Invasive Hepatic Mucormycosis After Living Donor Liver Transplantation.

Mucormycosis is a rare but emerging fungal infection complicating solid organ transplantation. It is associated with a high mortality rate. We describe an unusual case of hepatic mucormycosis in a living donor liver transplant recipient presenting as delayed graft dysfunction, which was successfully treated with combination of liposomal amphotericin B and oral posaconazole therapy, without surgical resection. The patient had clinical improvement with normalization of liver function tests.

Do Recipients of Genetically Related Donors Have Better Outcomes After Living Donor Liver Transplantation?

BACKGROUND: There are few data on genetic relation of the donor and outcomes in living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) recipients. We compared outcomes of LDLT between recipients of genetically related and unrelated donors in a large single-center series. METHODS: The study included 1372 adult, ABO-compatible, primary LDLT recipients, who received a graft from either a first-degree relative (parent, sibling, son, or daughter; n = 756) or unrelated donor (spouse or relative of the spouse; n = 616). RESULTS: The mean age of the recipients with a related donor was 50.2 ± 10.8 years compared with 47.3 ± 9.3 years for recipients with unrelated donors (P = 0.000). Chronic rejection was significantly more common in the genetically unrelated donor group than in the genetically related donor group (28 [4.5%] versus 9 [1.1%]; P = 0.000) at a mean follow-up of 37 months (15-95 months). There were no significant differences in other outcomes between the 2 groups. The 12-month and 36-month survival between the unrelated and related groups was 87.6% versus 90%, and 86.3% versus 89.7% respectively (P = 0.115). The multivariate analysis revealed genetically unrelated donors (odds ratio [OR]: 3.88, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.80-8.34, P = 0.001) and history of acute cellular rejection (OR: 3.39, 95% CI: 1.68-6.81, P = 0.001) as predictors of chronic rejection. CONCLUSION: Although chronic rejection was found to be more common in genetically unrelated donors, the patient survival after LDLT was similar.

Poor Performance Status Predicts Mortality After Living Donor Liver Transplantation.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Performance status may adversely affect living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) outcomes. We present our data regarding performance status and posttransplantation survival in a large LDLT cohort. METHODS: Patients with ABO incompatibility, of pediatric age, with acute liver failure, with hepatocellular carcinoma, and/or who had incomplete data were excluded. Two hundred sixty adults who had decompensated cirrhosis and underwent LDLT from January 2016 to March 2018 were included. Performance status was assessed by Karnofsky Performance Score (KPS). The data are depicted as number, mean (SD), or median (25-75 interquartile range [IQR]). RESULTS: The cohort included 232 males and 28 females, aged 48.3 ± 9.8 years. Etiology of liver disease was hepatitis B in 33, hepatitis C in 19, alcohol related in 120, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis/cryptogenic in 68, and other etiologies in 20 patients. The mean Child's score was 9.6 ± 1.7, Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score was 18.0 ± 5.8, and donor age was 33.4 ± 9.9 years. Forty-one recipients died at median follow-up of 11 months. The KPS was 100 in 6 (no deaths), 90 in 53 (2 deaths), 80 in 93 (12 deaths), 70 in 69 (14 deaths), 60 in 26 (8 deaths), and 50 in 13 (5 deaths) (P = 0.003). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of KPS to predict mortality was 0.698 (P = 0.000, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.616-0.780), and the best sensitivity (63%) and specificity (67%) were achieved at KPS ≤70. The survivors and nonsurvivors had a significant difference with respect to KPS (77.6 ± 10.9 versus 69.5 ± 10.9, P 0.000), age of the patient (47.8 ± 9.4 versus 51.1 ± 11.7; P = 0.047), postoperative infections (53.8% versus 85.3%, P = 0.001), and need of packed red cells transfusion. Multivariate analysis (Cox proportional-hazard) showed KPS (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.96, 95% CI = 0.93-0.99, P = 0.007), postoperative infections (HR = 2.3, 95% CI = 1.04-5.1, P = 0.038), and recipient age (HR = 1.03, 95% CI = 1.002-1.07, P = 0.039) as predictors of mortality. CONCLUSION: Pretransplant performance status is one of the predictors of mortality after LDLT.

Good outcome of living donor liver transplantation for severe alcoholic hepatitis not responding to medical management: A single center experience of 39 patients.

INTRODUCTION: There are limited data on outcomes of living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) for patients with severe alcoholic hepatitis. METHODS: The study included LDLT recipients for severe alcoholic hepatitis (n = 39) who did not improve with medical treatment and compared their outcomes with patients who underwent LDLT for alcoholic liver disease (n = 461). The diagnosis of severe alcoholic hepatitis was based on both clinical and explants data. No patients had psychiatric contraindications for liver transplant and all had good family support. The data are shown as number, mean (SD), or median (25-75 interquartile range). RESULTS: All transplant recipients were males, aged 42 ± 8 years. The patients with alcoholic hepatitis were abstinent for a duration of 4 ± 1.8 months at the time of LDLT. All patients underwent LDLT with a graft to recipient weight ratio of 0.95 ± 0.17. The post-transplant ICU and hospital stay were 5.4 ± 1.3 and 17.6 ± 8.4 days, respectively. When patients with alcoholic hepatitis (n = 39) were compared to patients who underwent LDLT for alcoholic liver disease without alcoholic hepatitis (n = 461), patients with alcoholic hepatitis were significantly younger (43.2 ± 8.5 vs. 48.2 ± 9.1 years, p = 0.001) and had higher Child's (10.9 ± 1.5 vs. 9.8 ± 1.8) and MELD scores (22.1 ± 4.5 vs. 18.4 ± 5.9, p = 0.000). Post-operative infections were also significantly more common in the alcoholic hepatitis group (71.7% vs. 51.6%, p = 0.018). Fungal infections developed in 23% of alcoholic hepatitis patients as compared to 14% in the rest of the alcoholic patients (p = 0.247). Six recipients (15.7%) died at a median follow-up of 28 (6-37) months due to infections, and five (12.8%) patients had relapse of alcohol drinking. Survival was not different between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Living donor liver transplantation can be successfully performed with good survival for patients with severe alcoholic hepatitis.

Outcome of Living Donor Liver Transplantation for Wilson's Disease in Adults: A Single Center Experience.

INTRODUCTION: Although liver transplantation is a definitive cure for Wilson's disease (WD), there is limited data about results of living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) in adults. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 18 adults underwent LDLT for WD. The presentations before LDLT were decompensated cirrhosis (n = 16), acute on chronic liver failure (n = 1) and acute liver failure (n = 1). The donors were parents (n = 2), siblings (n = 3), cousin (n = 1), daughter (n = 1), nephew (n = 1), spouse or relatives of spouse (n = 9) and from swap transplantation (n = 1). All genetically related donors were negative for screening of WD. RESULTS: The study cohort comprised of 15 males and 3 females, aged 32 ± 10 years. Severity of liver disease (excluding acute liver failure patient) was as follows; Child's score 10 ± 2, model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score 18 ± 6. The graft to recipient weight ratio was 1 ± 0.2. The ICU and hospital stay were 5.5 ± 0.9 and 15 ± 5 days. Two patients died in first month after liver transplantation, rest of patients are doing well at median 15 (8-38 months). Two patients had acute cellular rejection that responded to steroids, one had hepatic artery thrombosis and 2 had biliary strictures. Three patients had neurological symptoms; 2 of these patients had partial recovery while one had complete recovery. There was no significant difference between LDLT from genetically related or unrelated donors. CONCLUSION: LDLT for WD in adults is associated with good outcomes.

(D+10) MELD as a novel predictor of patient and graft survival after adult to adult living donor liver transplantation.

We modified the previously described D-MELD score in deceased donor liver transplant, to (D+10)MELD to account for living donors being about 10 years younger than deceased donors, and tested it on living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) recipients. Five hundred consecutive LDLT, between July 2010 and December 2012, were retrospectively analyzed to see the effect of (D+10)MELD on patient and graft survival. Donor age alone did not influence survival. Recipients were divided into six classes based on the (D+10)MELD score: Class 1 (0-399), Class 2 (400-799), Class 3 (800-1199), Class 4 (1200-1599), Class 5 (1600-1999), and Class 6 (>2000). The 1 year patient survival (97.1, 88.8, 87.6, 76.9, and 75% across Class 1-5, P=.03) and graft survival (97.1, 87.9, 82.3, 76.9, and 75%; P=.04) was significantly different among the classes. The study population was divided into two groups at (D+10)MELD cut off at 860. Group 1 had a significantly better 1 year patient (90.4% vs 83.4%; P=.02) and graft survival (88.6% vs 80.2%; P=.01). While donor age alone does not predict recipient outcome, (D+10)MELD score is a strong predictor of recipient and graft survival, and may help in better recipient/donor selection and matching in LDLT.