[Clinical study of liver re-transplantation].
OBJECTIVE
To report experiences of liver re-transplantation.


METHODS
The cause of re-transplantation, the pre-operative MELD score, timing of re-transplantation, technical considerations, 1 year survival rate and the causes of death of the patients receiving liver re-transplantation in First Central Hospital of Tianjin between January 1999 and December 2005 were retrospectively analyzed.


RESULTS
One year survival rate of re-transplantation was 71.6%. The most common cause of hepatic graft failure and subsequent re-transplantation was biliary complications (45.5%). The 1 year survival rate of patients with a MELD score less than 20 was higher than patients with a score of 20 approximately 30 and > 30 (83.8% versus 57.1% and 66.7%). The peri-operative survival rate of patients who received re-transplantation 30 days after the initial transplantation was higher than those who received re-transplantation between 8 to 30 days post the first operation (83.8% versus 41.7%). The main cause of peri-operative death was celiac infections (accounted for 54.2% deaths) in the patients.


CONCLUSIONS
Proper indication selection, optimum operation time, right surgical procedure, intensified peri-operative monitoring and infection control are all crucial for the improvement of survival rate in patients receiving liver re-transplantation.
Shen
Zhong-yang
ZY
Transplant Center, First Central Hospital, Tianjin 300192, China.
Zhu
Zhi-jun
ZJ
Zheng
Hong
H
Deng
Yong-lin
YL
Pan
Cheng
C
Zhang
Ya-min
YM
Cai
Jin-zhen
JZ
Rao
Wei
W
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007223:Infant; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012086:Reoperation / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis; D020858:Tissue and Organ Harvesting / Q000379:methods
D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents