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Liver transplantation for biliary atresia: 19-year, single-center experience
L Thomas Chin1, Anthony M D'Alessandro, Stuart J Knechtle
1Division of Organ Transplantation, Department of Surgery, University of Wisconsin Medical School, 600 Highland Avenue, Madison, WI 53792-7375, USA.
Objectives:
In this study, we describe our 19-year experience with liver transplantation as the definitive treatment for congenital biliary atresia.
Materials And Methods:
We performed a retrospective study of 115 liver transplants from 1984 to 2003 in 85 patients with congenital biliary atresia. We determined the impact of era of transplantation (1984-1993 and 1994-2003), recipient age (< 1 and > 1), prior portoenterostomy, and type of surgery (whole-, reduced-, and split-liver transplant) on the outcome of the transplant.
Results:
Overall long-term survival is 83%. Survival is greater in the more-recent era. No impact of age or prior portoenterostomy on survival was seen. Split-liver grafts showed superior graft survival, whereas reduced-liver transplants had the worst overall graft survival.
Conclusions:
Our results confirm that long-term patient survival after liver transplantation for congenital biliary atresia is excellent. When required, partial liver grafts provide excellent long-term outcome.