Liver Transplantation in Adults with Acute Liver Failure: A Single Center Experience over A Period of 15 Years

Liver transplantation (LT) is an effective treatment modality for acute liver failure (ALF). However, no reports have examined a large number of patients who underwent adult living donor LT (LDLT) for ALF.

Seventy-four adult patients who underwent LT including 72 LDLT in a single center over a period of 15 years were reviewed.

Of 74 cases, there were 17 cases with acute type ALF and 57 cases with subacute type of ALF. Etiologies of hepatitis were hepatitis B virus in 31 cases, drug exposure in 11 cases, autoimmune hepatitis in two cases, and unknown in 30 cases. Patient survival was 65%, 65%, and 61% at 1, 3, and 5 years, respectively. The overall survival rates did not differ among patients divided by etiology of ALE (p = 0.693), type of ALE (p 0.745), ABD compatibility (p a, 0.912), total scores for predictive variables (p = 0.975), or graft-to-recipient weight ratio greater or less than 0.8% (p = 0.063). The most frequent cause of death within 1 month aftet LT was infection.

LT produces favorable outcomes in adult patients with ALE irrespective of etiology, type of ALE, or pre-transpiant liver conditions.