摘要
Background The curative effect of liver transplantation for patients with end-stage liver disease was encouraging in recent years and the 5-year patient survival rate can reach up to 70%. However, some patients might lose grafts due to a variety of reasons, including bile duct complications, vascular complications, primary non-function, graft rejection and disease recurrence etc. Liver retransplantation （re-LT） was the only available means for those patients whose initial grafts had failed, but the inferior outcomes of re-LT compared to primary liver transplantation （PLT） continue to be a major concern. This study aimed to analyze the indications for re-LT, optimal timing of re-LT, and strategies to improve the survival rate after re-LT.Methods From January 2001 to December 2006, we performed 738 liver transplants and 39 re-LT （5.3%） at our center. A retrospective analysis was performed to identify factors （indication for re-LT, preoperative score of model for end-stage liver disease （MELD）, interval to re-LT from primary liver transplantation, methods of vascular and biliary reconstruction and common causes of death） associated with survival.Results Mean follow-up period was 1.8 years （1 to 5 years）. Patients with MELD score less than 20 were better than those whose MELD score was 〉20 and MELD score〉30 （1-year survival, 80.0% versus 50.0% and 3/5）. The perioperative survival rate of patients who received re-LT at an interval of more than 30 days and less than 8 days after the initial transplantation was higher than those who received retransplantation between 8 to 30 days following the first operation （88.5% and 74.3% versus 50.0%）. The main causes of death were infection （60.0%）, multiple organ failure （20.0%）, vascular complications （10.0%） and biliary fistula （10.0%） in perioperative period. The overall patient survival rate of 1-month, 6-month and 1-year was 80.0%, 76.7% and 66.7%, respectively.Conclusions Our study suggested the favorable results after re-
Background The curative effect of liver transplantation for patients with end-stage liver disease was encouraging in recent years and the 5-year patient survival rate can reach up to 70%. However, some patients might lose grafts due to a variety of reasons, including bile duct complications, vascular complications, primary non-function, graft rejection and disease recurrence etc. Liver retransplantation （re-LT） was the only available means for those patients whose initial grafts had failed, but the inferior outcomes of re-LT compared to primary liver transplantation （PLT） continue to be a major concern. This study aimed to analyze the indications for re-LT, optimal timing of re-LT, and strategies to improve the survival rate after re-LT.Methods From January 2001 to December 2006, we performed 738 liver transplants and 39 re-LT （5.3%） at our center. A retrospective analysis was performed to identify factors （indication for re-LT, preoperative score of model for end-stage liver disease （MELD）, interval to re-LT from primary liver transplantation, methods of vascular and biliary reconstruction and common causes of death） associated with survival.Results Mean follow-up period was 1.8 years （1 to 5 years）. Patients with MELD score less than 20 were better than those whose MELD score was 〉20 and MELD score〉30 （1-year survival, 80.0% versus 50.0% and 3/5）. The perioperative survival rate of patients who received re-LT at an interval of more than 30 days and less than 8 days after the initial transplantation was higher than those who received retransplantation between 8 to 30 days following the first operation （88.5% and 74.3% versus 50.0%）. The main causes of death were infection （60.0%）, multiple organ failure （20.0%）, vascular complications （10.0%） and biliary fistula （10.0%） in perioperative period. The overall patient survival rate of 1-month, 6-month and 1-year was 80.0%, 76.7% and 66.7%, respectively.Conclusions Our study suggested the favorable results after re-
