title: Hepatic venous pressure gradient to assess fibrosis and its progression after liver transplantation for HCV cirrhosis.
abstract: Progression of fibrosis following recurrent hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is frequent after liver transplantation (LT). Histology remains the gold standard to assess fibrosis, but the value of hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG) is being explored. We evaluated patients with recurrent HCV infection after LT to assess whether HVPG correlates with liver histology, particularly fibrosis. A total of 90 consecutive patients underwent 170 HVPG measurements concomitant with transjugular liver biopsy (TJB), with 31.5 (range, 6-156) months of follow up. Median biopsy length was 22 mm and total portal tract count was 12 (complete 6, partial 6). Median HVPG was 4 mmHg: 38% of patients > or =6 mmHg (portal hypertension, PHT), 13% > or =10 mmHg. HVPG correlated with Ishak stage (r = 0.73, P < 0.001) for mild (0-3) and severe fibrosis (4-6), and grade score (r = 0.47, P < 0.001), but neither correlated with interval from LT nor biopsy length. HVPG was > or =10 mmHg in 15 patients: 12 had stage 5 or 6, and 3 severe portal expansion. HVPG was repeated in 49, between 7 and 60 months with weak correlation to fibrosis score (r = 0.30, P = 0.045). A total of 12 patients with HVPG > or =6 mmHg had fibrosis score < or =3, while 8 patients had normal HVPG but fibrosis stage > or =4. These discrepancies were mostly associated with specific histological features such as perisinusoidal fibrosis rather than errors in measuring HVPG. In 29 with HVPG <6 mmHg at 1 yr, none decompensated compared to 4 of 13 (31%) with PHT. In conclusion, HVPG correlates with fibrosis and its progression, due to recurrent HCV infection, assessed in TJB.
authors.affiliation: Liver Transplantation and Hepatobiliary Unit and Histopathology Department, Royal Free Hospital, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Dimitrios N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Samonakis
authors.forename: Evangelos
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cholongitas
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Thalheimer
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kalambokis
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Quaglia
authors.forename: Christos K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Triantos
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mela
authors.forename: Penelope
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Manousou
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Senzolo
authors.forename: Amar Paul
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Dhillon
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Patch
authors.forename: Andrew Kenneth
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Burroughs
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001706:Biopsy; D001794:Blood Pressure; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000150:complications; D015331:Cohort Studies; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000150:complications; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D003698:Hepatitis Delta Virus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D006975:Hypertension, Portal / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000473:pathology*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000150:complications; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000276:immunology / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018579:Patient Selection; D012008:Recurrence; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents