Tag Archives: liver fibrosis

Alive and well? 10 years after liver transplantation

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As survival has improved with liver transplantation (LT), long-term health outcomes have become more important.  Reported 5-year survival rate after pediatric LT in North America is >85%.  More data on long-term health consequences are provided in a review of 167 10-year survivors from a North American Database (Studies of Pediatric Liver Transplantation –SPLIT) (J Pediatr 2012; 160: 820-6).

Ng VL et al report on frequency of comorbidities as well as quality of life.  Of the 10-year survivors who were included in this study: 85 (50.9%) were transplanted in the first year of life; 69 (41.3%) received transplants between 1-7.9 years.  Biliary atresia accounted for 55.1% of the transplanted cohort; the remainder were due to the following: metabolic liver disease 23 (13.8%), acute liver failure 18 (10.8%), other cholestatic conditions 17 (10.2%), tumor 6 (3.6%), and other 11 (6.6%).

First allograft survival rates were 94% at 1 year and 88% at 10 years.   Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) as assessed by the PedsQL 4.0 Generic Core Scales revealed lower patient self-reported total scale scores for LT survivors compared with healthy children (77.2 vs 84.9, P<.001).  14% had HRQOL >2 SDs below that of a matched healthy population.  Other specific post-LT morbidities included the following:

  • Impaired linear growth (23% <10th percentile); ongoing steroid therapy was associated with increased risk of poor linear growth.
  • Renal dysfunction (9%) –defined as calculated glomerular filtration rate <90 mL/min/1.73 m2.
  • Hyperlipidemia: 20% with hypercholesterolemia, and 26% with hypertriglyciridemia
  • Lymphoproliferative disease (5%).  EBV seroconversion occurred in 46 (47%) of 97 who had been EBV-negative prior to LT.  25 (15%) developed symptomatic EBV infection.
  • School performance: 32 (23%) had repeated a grade or were held back at least 1 school year.
  • Liver fibrosis: at 10 years, elevated aminotransferases were noted in 11% and increased gamma gluatmyl transpeptidase in 15%.  Previous studies from SPLIT indicate fibrosis is common in long-term survivors even with good clinical outcomes.

Alive and well?  While survival has improved remarkably, better outcomes are still needed.

Related posts:

Picking winners and losers with liver transplantation allocation

Good care 24/7

Big gift, how much risk

Additional references:


  • -Pediatrics 2008; 122: 1128-35.  Outcomes of 461 pediatric LT.
  • -Am J Transplant 2008; 8: 2506-13.  Improving long-term outcomes of LT.
  • -Hepatolog 2009; 49: 880-6.  LT-Liver fibrosis at 10 year followup.
  • -JPGN 2008; 47: 165. ~50% below 1.3 SD of adult height. Many show partial catch up growth.
  • -Liver Transplant 2006; 12: 1310. Review article on nutrition for OLTx patient.

Drink Up!

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Green tea and coffee have a lot of advocates and a number of articles suggest that each can have beneficial effects for the liver.  This month’s Hepatology describes how a green tea component, epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), inhibits hepatitis C viral (HCV) entry. ECGC acts by blocking viral attachment to target cells with all HCV genotypes; it does not affect viral replication.  Other components of green tea do not have this effect.  A complete description of green tea components is described in the discussion of the article, Hepatology 2012: 54: 1947-55.  Also, there have been preliminary dosing studies in healthy volunteers which have shown that EGCG is safe at doses of 800mg daily for four weeks.  This would be the equivalent of drinking 8-16 cups of green tea per day (Clin Cancer Res 2003; 9: 3312-19).  In order to eliminate HCV, however, even higher amounts of EGCG would be likely.

 

Coffee also has been studied and has been associated with decreasing liver fibrosis.  In addition, coffee may enhance response to HCV treatments.  To my knowledge, there have not been extensive studies of either coffee or green tea for pediatric patients.

Additional References:

  • -Gastroenterology 2011; 140: 1961. Coffee (3 cups/day) increases response to PEG/RBV in HCV
  • -Hepatology 2009; 51: 201. Coffee decreases fibrosis. n=177.
  • -Hepatology 2009; 50: 1360. Coffee intake associated with slower progression of HCV liver disease
  • -Hepatology 2009; 50: 970. Coffee -2 cups per day decreases risk of liver fibrosis & HCC. Coffee has methylxanthin which inhibits connective tissue growth factor.