Indications and Outcomes with Liver Retransplantation in 2025

Five to 10% of the annual liver transplants in the United States are performed in prior liver recipients with 70% occurring within 1 year of transplantation. Fortunately, the incidence of primary non-function (PNF) has significantly decreased from 8% in the 1980's to < 2%, but PNF and hepatic artery thromboses remain the leading reasons for early emergency retransplantation. Other indications for early retransplantation include severe biliary or vascular complications and refractory rejection. Fortunately, the need for late retransplantation (> 1 year) has also declined due to improved immunosuppression, earlier detection of recurrent disease, and use of oral antiviral agents for recurrent hepatitis C. Patient survival with retransplantation is consistently lower than with primary liver transplantation. Risk factors for poor outcomes with retransplantation include a higher MELD score, ICU status, renal failure, and use of marginal allografts. Therefore, most centers use younger, whole deceased brain-dead donor organs whenever possible. However, increased use of machine perfused livers has expanded the donor pool for these more complex and technically challenging cases. Retransplant recipients have a higher rate of early technical, infectious, and cardiovascular complications compared to primary LT recipients. Going forward, LT recipients with recurrent steatotic and alcoholic liver disease will likely pose ethical, medical, and surgical challenges to the transplant community.