title: Evaluation of growth after liver transplantation in Turkish children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Currently, the main interest in childhood liver transplantation (LT) is to prevent long-term complications and optimize growth. The aim of this study is to analyze (1) nutritional status in the pretransplantation period, and (2) posttransplantation growth and associated factors in children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighty children were included in the study. Height (Z                            (H)) and weight (Z                            (W)) Z scores were calculated before transplantation and postoperatively at the 6th month and 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th year.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients' Z                            (H) and Z                            (W) scores at LT were -1.6 ± 1.3 and -1.5 ± 1.4, respectively. Both Z                            (H) and Z                            (W) scores increased after LT, especially in the first 6 months, and then continued to rise gradually. Both reached beyond -1 Z score at 2nd year and -0.5 at 4th year. Age, primary diagnosis, total steroid dose (<1,000 mg), and absence of rejection episodes had positive impact on posttransplantation growth, whereas gender, immunosuppression type, surgical complications, and presence of tumor had no impact on posttransplantation growth. Age at time of LT was negatively correlated with Z                            (W) score at 5th year (P = 0.02, r = -0.43). Both Z                            (W) and Z                            (H) scores at time of LT were positively correlated with Z                            (W) and Z                            (H) scores and negatively correlated with ∆Z                            (W) and ∆Z                            (H) scores at 5th year.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  LT is not only a modern, life-saving treatment technique but also an efficient method of facilitating growth, an indispensable component of childhood and the best indicator of health.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition, Ege University, Bornova, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Masallah
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baran
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cakir
authors.forename: Fatih
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Unal
authors.forename: Gokhan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tumgor
authors.forename: Hasan Ali
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Yuksekkaya
authors.forename: Cigdem
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Arikan
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kilic
authors.forename: Sema
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aydogdu
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000503:physiopathology; D006128:Growth / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D016031:Liver Transplantation; D008297:Male; D009752:Nutritional Status
chemical_list: D005938:Glucocorticoids