title: ABO-incompatible liver transplantation for critically ill adult patients.
abstract: ABO incompatible (ABO-In) liver transplant remains a controversial solution to acute liver failure in adults. Adult liver recipients with acute liver failure or severely decompensated end-stage disease, intubated and/or in the intensive care unit, were grouped as ABO-In (n = 14), ABO-compatible (n = 29, ABO-C) and ABO-identical (n = 65, ABO-Id). ABO-In received quadruple immunosuppression with antibody-depleting induction agents (except two), calcineurin inhibitors, antimetabolites and steroids. No significant difference of patient and graft survivals was observed among ABO-In, ABO-C and ABO-Id: graft survivals were 64%, 62% and 67%, respectively, in 1 year and 56%, 54% and 60%, respectively, in 5 years; patient survivals 86%, 69% and 67%, respectively, in 1 year and 77%, 61% and 62%, respectively, in 5 years. Three ABO-In grafts were lost (one hyper-acute rejection and two hepatic artery thrombosis). Surgical and infectious complications were similarly distributed between groups, except the hepatic artery thrombosis, more frequent in ABO-In (2, 14%) than ABO-I (1, 1.5%, P < 0.05). In contrast to previous studies, no significant difference of patient and graft survivals could be observed among all ABO-compatibility settings. Our results suggest that ABO-incompatible transplants should be viewed as an important therapeutic option in adult patients with acute liver failure awaiting an emergency procedure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Section of Hepatobiliary, Pancreatic and Transplant Surgery, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Toso
authors.forename: Mohammed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Al-Qahtani
authors.forename: Faisal A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Alsaif
authors.forename: David L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Bigam
authors.forename: Glenda A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Meeberg
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: James Shapiro
authors.forename: Vincent G
authors.initials: VG
authors.lastname: Bain
authors.forename: Norman M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Kneteman
mesh_terms: D000017:ABO Blood-Group System / Q000276:immunology*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000416:Alberta / Q000453:epidemiology; D016638:Critical Illness; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D006085:Graft Survival; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015994:Incidence; D017093:Liver Failure / Q000097:blood / Q000601:surgery*; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate
chemical_list: D000017:ABO Blood-Group System; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents