title: Living-donor liver transplantation for autoimmune hepatitis and autoimmune hepatitis-primary biliary cirrhosis overlap syndrome.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Recurrent autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) following liver transplantation has been reported in 20-30% of cases, mainly of Western populations. The aim of this study was to review our experience of living-donor liver transplantation (LDLT) in Japanese patients with AIH.
  
  
  METHODS
  Among 375 adult (age ≥18 years) LDLT performed at our center between 1996 and 2010, 16 (4.2%) were for patients with AIH (n = 12) or AIH-primary biliary cirrhosis overlap syndrome (n = 4). The patient and donor characteristics and post-transplantation course were reviewed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All recipients were female with a median age of 48 years (range, 21-58). Low-dose methylprednisolone and calcineurin inhibitors were continued in all patients. Acute cellular rejection occurred in 10 (63%), which was more frequent than in our overall series of 28.5% (107/375 cases). Overall survival rate was 81.2% at 5 years. At the end of the follow up (median, 6.0 years [range, 0.1-9.6]), 13 patients were alive with normal liver function tests (aspartate transaminase, 18 ± 5 IU/mL; alanine transaminase, 16 ± 8 IU/mL). None of the survivors exhibited liver function test results suspicious for recurrent AIH, which might indicate liver biopsy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Survival after LDLT for AIH and overlap syndrome was excellent and there was no evidence of clinical recurrence. The recurrence rate of AIH after liver transplantation may differ among countries, and requires further investigation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, The Artificial Organ and Transplantation DivisionDepartments of Surgery             Pathology, University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Noriyo
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yamashiki
authors.forename: Yasuhiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sugawara
authors.forename: Sumihito
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tamura
authors.forename: Junichi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kaneko
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takazawa
authors.forename: Taku
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Aoki
authors.forename: Kiyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hasegawa
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sakamoto
authors.forename: Kazuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Koike
authors.forename: Norihiro
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kokudo