title: Cause and timing of first allograft failure in orthotopic liver transplantation: a study of 177 consecutive patients.
abstract: The cause and timing of first liver allograft failure was evaluated in 177 patients who underwent a second liver transplant between January 1984 and December 1988. The population studied consisted of 94 men and 83 women with a mean age 41.3 +/- 1.0 yr (mean +/- S.E.M.). Mean first-graft survival was 130.6 +/- 22.9 days (range = 0 to 2,073 days). Sixty-eight percent of the grafts failed in the first postoperative month, 26% failed between the second and twelfth month and only 6% failed beyond the twelfth month from the date of the initial transplant. Six principal causes of graft failure were identified. Early allograft losses occurred as a result of four major problems: primary graft nonfunction (30.0% of all grafts; mean graft survival = 3.4 +/- 0.3 days); ischemic injury of the graft without overt vascular injury (9.6%; mean graft survival = 17.5 +/- 1.9 days); acute rejection (10.7%; mean graft survival = 30.4 +/- 6.4 days); and overt vascular complications (26.6%; mean graft survival = 59.6 +/- 24.1 days). Late graft failures were the result of either chronic rejection (11.3%; mean graft survival = 496.3 +/- 136.0 days) or recurrence of the primary liver disease (6.8%; mean graft survival = 550.5 +/- 172.1 days). Graft failure occurred as a result of a variety of miscellaneous causes in 5% of the cases (mean graft survival in this group = 300.0 +/- 110.6 days). Overall 6-mo patient survival after a second liver transplant was 46.3%.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Clinica Universitaria de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Quiroga
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Colina
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Demetris
authors.forename: T E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Starzl
authors.forename: D H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Van Thiel
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001803:Blood Transfusion; D005260:Female; D006084:Graft Rejection; D006801:Humans; D007432:Intraoperative Period; D007511:Ischemia / Q000503:physiopathology; D008099:Liver / Q000098:blood supply; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000628:therapy; D016031:Liver Transplantation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012008:Recurrence; D012086:Reoperation; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013997:Time Factors