Recovery of menstruation and pregnancy after liver transplantation

The effect of successful liver transplantation on menstrual function was assessed by questionnaire in 44 women transplanted for various types of end stage liver disease, acute liver failure or malignant disease. Significant amenorrhoea (greater than one year) was present in 48% of women with chronic liver disease before transplantation, and was reversed within 10 months of surgery in all but one of the premenopausal patients who had primary amenorrhoea and hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism. Two patients became pregnant five months and 1.5 years after transplantation, but in one instance the pregnancy was unsuccessful, possibly as a consequence of cyclosporin related intrauterine growth retardation.