Pediatric liver transplantation in Iran: evaluation of the first 50 cases.
LT is nowadays accepted as the definitive therapy for end-stage liver disease. We report our experiences with pediatric LT using grafts from living related and DD. From April 1999 to March 2006, 50 infants and children who underwent LT were studied for pretransplantation status, medical and surgical complications and survival rate. There were 33 (66%) boys and 17 (34%) girls. The mean age of patients was 9.9 +/- 4.8 yr (range: 0.9-17.7) with a mean weight of 33.4 +/- 18.4 kg (range: 7.5-80). The main indications were cryptogenic cirrhosis (30%), autoimmune cirrhosis (24%), followed by biliary atresia (22%), Wilson disease (14%), progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis (4%), fulminant hepatitis (4%) and tyrosinemia (2%). We used living-related donor in 14 (28%) and split liver in 5 (10%) cases and other patients received whole liver from DD. The mean follow-up of patients was 24.7 +/- 22.6 months (range: 1-72). The main postoperative complications were acute cellular rejection (44%) and infections (30%), whereas chronic rejection was seen in 26% of cases. The mortality rate was 24%. Overall mean survival (76% alive) was 63.5 +/- 5.7, 95% CI: 52.3-74.6. Our results demonstrate that pediatric LT is a feasible undertaking in Iran. Organ shortage in our area led to liberal use of living related and split liver techniques. The overall results of the pediatric LT in Iran are encouraging.
Dehghani
Seyed Mohsen
SM
Organ Transplantation Center, Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Nemazee Hospital, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran. dehghanism@sums.ac.ir
Bahador
Ali
A
Gholami
Siavash
S
Nikeghbalian
Saman
S
Salahi
Heshmatollah
H
Imanieh
Mohammad Hadi
MH
Haghighat
Mahmood
M
Davari
Hamid Reza
HR
Serati
Zahra
Z
Mehrabani
Davood
D
Malek-Hosseini
Seyed Ali
SA
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D048550:Hepatic Insufficiency / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007492:Iran; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D010372:Pediatrics; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome