Factors affecting catch-up growth after liver transplantation.
BACKGROUND
The reported incidence of catch-up growth following orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) ranges widely, from 0% to 97%.


OBJECTIVE
We undertook bivariate analysis of multiple factors that might affect post-OLT growth in children undergoing OLT, and described the results with different parameters used to determine catch-up growth.


METHODS
Eighty patients met the inclusion criteria.


RESULTS
Catch-up growth occurred in 14% during the first 6 months, 15% at 1 year, 39% at 2 years, 16% between 3 and 6 years, and 16% after 6 years post-OLT. The earlier catch-up growth was shown in metabolic diagnosis, patients over 10 years old and those without steroids at 1 year post-OLT.


CONCLUSIONS
It is difficult to determine an acceptable definition of catch-up growth. We suggest that Zvel score > or =0 is the best parameter to evaluate catch-up growth, since the results are more normally distributed. Patients with prednisone withdrawal later than 1 year post-OLT and those with diagnosis of hepatitis and cirrhosis showed the slowest catch-up growth.
López-Espinosa
Jesús Alberto
JA
Liver Transplantation Group, Hospital Materno-Infantil Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, Spain.
Yeste-Fernández
Diego
D
Iglesias-Berengue
Juan
J
Ortega-López
Juan
J
Margarit-Creixell
Carlos
C
Gussinyé-Canadell
Miguel
M
Carrascosa-Lezcano
Antonio
A
D000293:Adolescent; D001827:Body Height; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006128:Growth / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric