What we’re reading…

This month's key articles selected by Ryan Chadha, Marit Kalisvaart, Tomohiro Tanaka, Michael Spiro, and Prashant Bhangui.

Journal of Critical Care

Intra-abdominal hypertension, fluid balance, and adverse outcomes after orthotopic liver transplantation

Intra-abdominal hypertension (IAH) is frequently encountered in critically ill surgical patients. We aimed to evaluate the incidence of IAH after orthotopic liver transplant (OLT) and its impact on organ function, hospital length-of-stay (LOS), and death. Read more.

 

Stroke

Postoperative Atrial Fibrillation and Long-Term Risk of Stroke in Patients Undergoing Liver Transplantation

Postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) is the commonest cardiovascular complication following liver transplantation (LT). This study sought to assess a possible association of POAF with subsequent thromboembolic events in patients undergoing LT. Read more.

 

Transplantation Direct

Thoracic Epidural Analgesia for Postoperative Pain Management in Liver Transplantation: A 10-year Study on 685 Liver Transplant Recipients

Thoracic epidural analgesia (TEA) is not widely used for postoperative pain management in liver transplantation due to hepatic coagulopathy-related increased risk of inducing an epidural hematoma. However, an increasing number of patients are transplanted for other indications than the end-stage liver disease and without coagulopathy allowing insertion of an epidural catheter. Read more.

 

Transplantation

Incidence and Risk Factors for Fatal Graft-versus-host Disease After Liver Transplantation

Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) after liver transplantation (LT) is a rare but serious complication. The aim of this study is to identify risk factors, including immunosuppressive regimens, for mortality due to GVHD (fatal GVHD). Read more.

 

Liver Transplantation

Multicenter, Double-Blind, Randomized Trial of Emricasan in Hepatitis C-Treated Liver Transplant Recipients With Residual Fibrosis or Cirrhosis

Despite achieving sustained virologic response (SVR) to hepatitis C virus (HCV) therapy, there remains a post liver transplantation population with advanced fibrosis/cirrhosis. Emricasan is an orally active, pan-caspase inhibitor that suppresses apoptosis and inflammation, potentially decreasing hepatic inflammation and fibrosis. Read more.

 

Journal of Hepatology

Predicting survival after liver transplantation in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma using the LiTES-HCC score

Liver transplant priority in the US and Europe follows the ‘sickest-first ‘principle. However, for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), priority is based on binary tumor criteria (e.g., Milan) to expedite transplant for patients with ‘acceptable’ post-transplant outcomes. Newer risk scores developed to overcome limitations of these binary criteria (e.g., Metroticket, HALT-HCC) are insufficient to be used for waitlist priority as they focus solely on HCC-related pre-transplant variables. We sought to develop a risk score to predict post-transplant survival for HCC patients using HCC- and non-HCC related variables. Read more.

 

Annals of Surgery

Expert Consensus Guidelines on Minimally Invasive Donor Hepatectomy for Living Donor Liver Transplantation From Innovation to Implementation: A Joint Initiative From the International Laparoscopic Liver Society (ILLS) and the Asian-Pacific Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association (A-PHPBA)The Expert Consensus Guidelines initiative on MIDH for LDLT was organized with the goal of safe implementation and development of these complex techniques with donor safety as the main priority. Read more.

 

Liver Transplantation

Donor‐Transmitted Cancers in Transplanted Livers: Analysis of Clinical Outcomes

The risk of transmission of malignancy from donor to recipient is low. However, this occurrence has dramatic consequences. Many reports of donor‐derived cancers in liver transplant recipients have been published, but they have not been systematically summarized into a lucid and unified analysis. The present study is an attempt to provide clarity to this unusual but clinically important problem. Read more.

 

Transplantation

How to Preserve Liver Grafts From Circulatory Death With Long Warm Ischemia? A Retrospective Italian Cohort Study With Normothermic Regional Perfusion and Hypothermic Oxygenated Perfusion

Donation after circulatory death (DCD) in Italy, given its 20-min stand-off period, provides a unique bench-test for normothermic regional perfusion (NRP) and dual hypothermic oxygenated machine perfusion (D-HOPE). Read more.