Donor factor V Leiden mutation and vascular thrombosis following liver transplantation

The most commonly detected hypercoagulable state involves an abnormal factor V protein synthesized by the liver in which arginine at position 506 is replaced by glutamine as a result of a single-point mutation in the factor V gene (factor V Leiden). Liver transplantation is complicated by hepatic vascular thrombosis in up to 15% of cases, resulting in graft loss in most instances. This retrospective study examined the effect of the factor V Leiden mutation on the risk of hepatic vessel thrombosis after liver transplantation. The mutation was sought by polymerase chain reaction and Mnl I digestion of DNA where available from 214 recipients and 276 donors receiving 319 liver transplants. No donors or patients were homozygous for the factor V Leiden mutation. The prevalence of the heterozygous mutation was 19 of 276 (6.9%) in donors and 19 of 214 (8.9%) in recipients. Forty-one thrombotic episodes occurred after transplantation in the 276 transplants in which donor DNA was available for analysis; 22 involved the hepatic artery, 9 involved the portal vein, and 10 were deep venous thromboses. A donor factor V Leiden mutation was detected in the donor in 6 of 41 (14.6%) with any thrombotic event compared with 13 of 235 (5.5%) without (P = 0.03). The relative risk of any thrombosis with this mutation was therefore 2.32 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.12-4.81). The factor V Leiden mutation was present in the donor in 4 of 31 (12.9%) cases complicated by hepatic vessel thrombosis (which always led to graft loss or death) and 15 of 245 (6.1%) cases without (P = 0.16). The relative risk of hepatic vessel thrombosis in the presence of this allele was therefore 2.00 (95% CI, 0.78-5.14). As anticipated, the presence of this allele in the recipient was not associated with deep venous or hepatic vessel thrombosis. The factor V Leiden mutation in the donor liver is not a major risk factor for hepatic vessel thrombosis and subsequent graft loss after liver transplantation.