Long-term growth of pediatric patients following living-donor liver transplantation.
In order to determine the influence of living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) on long-term growth, we studied the progress of 36 children who had survived more than 5 yr after LDLT from 1994 to 1999. The median age at the transplantation was 1.5 yr (range: 6 months-15 yr) and the median follow-up period was 6.5 yr (range: 5-9 yr). A height standard deviation score (zH) was analyzed for each patient according to medical records. Significant catch-up growth occurred within 2 yr after LDLT with a mean zH changing from -1.2 to 0.0 and was maintained for up to 7 yr post-transplantation (zH-0.1). Younger children (<2 yr) were more growth-retarded at the time of LDLT, but showed higher catch-up growth rates and their final zH was greater than that of older children. Children with liver cirrhosis were more growth-retarded at the time of LDLT, but showed significant catch-up growth and their final height was similar to children with fulminant hepatitis. Growth in children who experienced significant hepatic dysfunction after LDLT was not significantly different from those without graft dysfunction. There was no difference between the types of immunosuppressants used. Our finding suggests that LDLT can result in adequate catchup linear growth, and this effect can persist even after 7 yr post-transplantation.
Park
Seong Jong
SJ
Department of Pediatrics, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Rim
Sun-Hee
SH
Kim
Kyung Mo
KM
Lee
Joo Hoon
JH
Choi
Bo Hwa
BH
Lee
Seon Yun
SY
Chang
Soo Hee
SH
Lee
Young Joo
YJ
Lee
Sung Gyu
SG
D000293:Adolescent; D001827:Body Height; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019520:Living Donors; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male