title: The evolution of the role of liver transplantation in treating alcoholic cirrhosis in Greece.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Liver transplantation represents the main treatment for alcoholic cirrhosis. The goal of this article is to review the results of liver transplantation for alcoholic cirrhosis in Greece over the last 2 decades.
  
  
  METHODS
  Among 247 patients who underwent liver transplantation between 1991 and 2007, 34 (13.7%) experienced alcoholic cirrhosis as the primary diagnosis. We reviewed their demographic data, stage of liver disease, and outcomes regarding survival via a Kaplan-Meier curve. Also we analyzed the causes of death and the postoperative complications.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score was 18.4. Other diagnoses included hepatitis C virus (HCV; 23.5%), hepatitis B virus (HBV; 14.7%), and hepatocellular carcinoma (8.8%). Eleven patients died the most frequent causes being primary graft nonfunction (n = 3), hepatic artery thrombosis (n = 2), sepsis (n = 2), and portal vein thrombosis (n = 2). Complications included rejection (32.4%), infection (26.5%), hepatic graft dysfunction (11.8%), and recurrent HCV, recurrent HBV, and renal failure (8.8% each). Recurrence of alcoholism was observed in 3 patients (8.8%) with mild effects on liver function tests. There has been a significant increase in the number of liver transplantations for alcoholic cirrhosis in the last 6 years, namely 25 patients versus 9 in the previous 10 years.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We observed a significant increase in the frequency of alcoholic cirrhosis leading to liver transplantation in the last several years in Greece.
authors.affiliation: Transplantation Unit, Department of Surgery, Aristoteleion University of Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Imvrios
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Papanikolaou
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tsoulfas
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Vasiliadis
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kardassis
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Papagiannis
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Goulis
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Giakoustidis
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Antoniadis
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fouzas
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Patsiaoura
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ntinas
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ouzounidis
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vrochides
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Katsika
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Diplaris
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Miserlis
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Takoudas
mesh_terms: D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000601:surgery; D002423:Cause of Death; D006115:Greece; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000601:surgery; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008104:Liver Cirrhosis, Alcoholic / Q000601:surgery*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000401:mortality / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000145:classification; D016019:Survival Analysis; D017741:Survivors