The multicenter Belgian survey on liver transplantation for hepatocellular failure after bariatric surgery

The prevalence of obesity has grown dramatically over the last decades, with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis increasingly observed. Therapeutic options for morbid obesity include bariatric surgery. Fatal liver failure (LF) has been recorded after jejunoileal bypass (JIB) but is controversial after biliopancreatic diversion (BPD, Scopinaro operation). We performed a survey on the frequency of liver transplantation (LT) after bariatric surgery in Belgium. An enquiry was sent to all Belgian liver transplant centers to investigate the occurrence of subacute and chronic LF after bariatric surgery. After weight-reduction surgery, 10 patients in 3 Belgian transplant centers were listed for LT due to severe hepatocellular failure. Nine of them had undergone a Scopinaro operation and 1 a jejunoileal bypass. The median time to develop LF was 5 years. The patient with JIB developed chronic LF after 25 years. Seven patients were transplanted; two died awaiting a graft and one is still on the waiting list. After LT, 1 patient developed rapid reappearance of LF at 10 months, requiring retransplantation. Two recipients died after LT because of multiorgan failure shortly after transplantation. In another case, a de novo cancer was fatal at 6 years' follow-up. The remaining recipients were doing well. According to this survey, the BPD operation carries a potential risk of LF. However, because there were only 10 cases, we remain unaware of the actual incidence of Scopinaro operation-induced LF. We advise strict follow-up of liver function and timely dismantling of BPD.