Factors associated with early mortality after living-donor liver transplant

We sought to identify the risk factors associated with the early mortality after a living-donor liver transplant.

Two hundred eighteen patients were recruited in this study. Potential risk factors were analyzed using univariate and multivariate analyses. A C statistic equivalent to the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was used to assess the ability of the model to predict mortality risk during the first 3 months after a living-donor liver transplant.

Twenty-six recipients died within the first 3 months after a living-donor liver transplant. On a multivariate analysis, intraoperative allogeneic red blood cell transfusion and the preoperative creatinine levels were independently associated with early postoperative mortality. A prognostic model was proposed in this study (early mortality risk score = 0.107 × intraoperative allogeneic red blood cells transfusion [U] + 0.005 × preoperative creatinine concentration [μmol/L]). Three-month survival rates of patients with high and low scores were 69.8% and 95.5% (P < .001).

Transfusion of intraoperative allogeneic red blood cell and preoperative creatinine levels are associated with the early mortality after living-donor liver transplant. A model to predict early mortality after a living-donor liver transplant based on these risk factors was proposed in this study.