Bleeding and liver transplantation outcomes in haemophilia

Hepatitis C is the major cause of end-stage liver disease and the major indication for orthotopic liver transplantation (OLTx) in individuals with haemophilia.

To assess the epidemiology and outcomes of OLTx in U.S. haemophilia patients.

We investigated haemophilia liver transplant recipients between 1993 and 2012, using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample, identified by ICD9 code 50.59.

Of the 11 267 (weighted n = 54 691) patients undergoing OLTx, 44 (0.4%; weighted n = 213) had haemophilia. Those with haemophilia were more likely than non-haemophilic OLTx recipients to have bleeding complications (45.3% vs. 31.5%, P = 0.009) and hypovolemic shock (7.0% vs. 1.1%, P < 0.0001). They also had a significantly higher incidence of HIV (24.8% vs. 0.5%, P < 0.005), hepatitis B (16.2% vs. 7.9%, P = 0.04) and vitamin K deficiency (2.1% vs. 0.02%, P < 0.001). In spite of these differences, there was no difference in in-hospital mortality between haemophilic and non-haemophilic recipients (6.8% vs. 6.2%, P = 0.9). In multivariate logistic regression, bleeding complications in haemophilia increased the risk of in-hospital mortality by more than 3-fold (P < 0.0001), and disseminated intravascular coagulation increased the risk of bleeding complications in haemophilic recipients by over 10-fold (P < 0.0001).

Bleeding complications are common in haemophilia OLTx recipients. Thus, aggressive correction of coagulation defects in this group may be a medically sound approach to reduce complications and mortality associated with OLTx.