title: MELD predictive value of alterations of brain perfusion during liver transplantation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The systemic circulation of patients with liver failure is characterized by low vascular resistance and a compensatorily increased cardiac output. In addition, some patients show functional loss of the autoregulation system for cerebral blood flow, creating enhanced risk during orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT), a possible cause of the high incidence of central nervous system complications after OLT.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixteen consecutive patients undergoing OLT were enrolled and characterized by the Child-Pugh (CTP), the MELD, and the HCC-adjusted-MELD score before surgery. OLT was performed with the "piggyback" technique. Brain perfusion and oxygenation was monitored by NIRO300 by Hamamatsu. This instrument detects concentration changes in oxygenated hemoglobin (DeltaHbO(2)), deoxygenated hemoglobin (DeltaHHb), and total volume of hemoglobin (DeltaHbT). It also calculates the tissue oxygenation index (TOI), namely HbO(2)/HbT expressed as a percentage, and the tissue hemoglobin index (THI).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The lowest levels of brain perfusion were recorded at the washout, DeltaHbO(2) = -13.95 (-20/-5.3) micromol L(-1) and TOI = 51.5 (35.2/70.7)%, while immediately after, at reperfusion, the highest peaks were observed: DeltaHbO(2) was 0.16 (16.9/13) micromol L(-1); DeltaHbT was 1.1 (22.3/11.8) mumol L(-1); and TOI was 73.6 (78.1/65.3)%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients with more severe liver deficiency scores showed higher levels of brain perfusion and oxygenation during surgery. Both the MELD and the CTP score predict alterations in brain perfusion.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Chirurgia Generale e Trapianto di Fegato, University of Bari, Bari, Italy. piercarminepanzera@libero.it
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Panzera
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cicco
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Memeo
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Catalano
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Greco
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Staffieri
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lupo
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Memeo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007431:Intraoperative Complications / Q000503:physiopathology; D017093:Liver Failure / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016343:Monitoring, Intraoperative / Q000379:methods*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests