General compliance after liver transplantation for alcoholic cirrhosis

In recent years, alcoholic cirrhosis has been accepted as an indication for OLT, compliance of patients suffering from alcoholic cirrhosis is still under discussion, however. 118 patients who had undergone OLT for alcoholic cirrhosis were considered for analysis. The mean follow-up time of the study population was 53.7 +/- 38.9 months. Compliance was defined by 3 parameters: 1. Sobriety. Fifteen (13%) out of 118 recipients suffered an alcohol relapse during the observation period. There was no difference between the groups with or without alcohol relapse concerning compliance with medication, incidence of rejection, or adherence to check-ups. 2. Drug-compliance. Nineteen recipients (16 %) were not within the target range with the immunosuppressive medication. Comparison of the compliant- and non-compliant groups produced a significant difference for late acute rejection, the other parameters being similar in the subgroups. 3. Adherence to appointments. Nearly all patients in the study population ( > 95 %) were compliant with both transplant and psychological appointments in the outpatient clinic. In conclusion, analysis of our data indicates that patients with OLT for alcoholic cirrhosis are compliant, although alcohol relapse occurs in 13 % of recipients.