title: Long-term results after liver transplantation.
abstract: Liver transplantation (OLT) has become a successful surgical therapy for terminal liver failure. We here report about long-term results of OLT in a single center over a period of 15 years. Between 1988 and 2002, 1365 adult OLTs were performed. Mean follow-up was 103 +/- 56 months. Main indications for OLT were viral-induced cirrhosis (27.1%), alcoholic liver disease (21%), tumors (15.7%) and cholestatic liver disease (14.6%). Retransplantation was necessary in 120 (9.6%) patients because of initial nonfunction (26.9%), recurrence of underlying disease (20.2%), acute and chronic rejection (16.8%) or thrombosis of the hepatic artery (16.8%). 275 patients (22.1%) died. Causes of death included recurrence of disease (32.1%), infections (21.8%), de novo malignancies (13.5%) and cardiovascular disease (11.6%). Patient survival after OLT was 91.4%, 82.5%, 74.7% and 68.2% after 1, 5, 10 and 15 years, and graft survival was 85.8%, 75.3%, 67.3% and 61.7% after 1, 5, 10 and 15 years, respectively. Patient survival after retransplantation was 81.6%, 68.8% and 57.1% and 48.0% after 1, 5, 10 and 15 years. This analysis reveals excellent long-term results after OLT achieved in a single center.
authors.affiliation: Department of General, Visceral and Transplantation Surgery, Charité, Campus Virchow-Klinikum, University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany. robert.pfitzmann@helios-kliniken.de
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pfitzmann
authors.forename: Natascha C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Nüssler
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hippler-Benscheidt
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Neuhaus
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Neuhaus
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000453:epidemiology; D006085:Graft Survival; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000401:mortality / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis; D017741:Survivors; D013997:Time Factors