Liver transplantation in patients over 60 years of age.

Liver transplantation was previously only offered to patients under 60 years of age. We have analyzed the outcome after acceptance on the waiting list and after liver transplantation of patients over 60 years old. A total of 150 patients over 60 years old were listed for a first liver transplantation during 1990-1998.

Liver transplantation in the Nordic countries, 1982-1998: changes of indications and improving results.

Background: Liver transplantation has become an established therapeutic option for patients with life-threatening liver disease. The aim of the present study was to analyse the results of and developments in liver transplantation in the Nordic countries during a 15-year period.

Methods: Data on all patients receiving a liver allograft in the Nordic countries during 1982-98 and waiting list data for all patients listed for a liver transplantation after 1989 were obtained from the Nordic Liver Transplantation Registry.

Reconstitution of the actin-scavenger system after orthotopic liver transplantation for end-stage liver disease: a prospective and longitudinal study.

Serum levels of the actin scavenger Gc-globulin (group-specific component, vitamin D-binding protein), a member of the albumin multigene family, are decreased in severe liver disease but have not been evaluated in relation to liver transplantation. We measured Gc-globulin and Gc-globulin-actin complex ratio daily for 2 weeks after transplantation in 17 patients with end-stage liver disease. Before transplantation, Gc-globulin levels were significantly less in the patients than in healthy controls (235 +/- 106 v 340 +/- 35 mg/L, respectively; P<.

The Nordic multicenter double-blind randomized controlled trial of prophylactic ursodeoxycholic acid in liver transplant patients.

Background: Prophylactic treatment with ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) has been reported to reduce the incidence of acute rejection after liver transplantation compared with historical controls. We investigated this in a prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled multicenter study.

Methods: Fifty-four liver transplant patients were allocated to the UDCA treatment group (15 mg/kg/day), and 48 patients were allocated to the placebo group.

Liver function, cerebral blood flow autoregulation, and hepatic encephalopathy in fulminant hepatic failure.

In acute liver failure, massive hepatic necrosis may result in impaired regulation of cerebral blood flow (CBF), development of encephalopathy, and cerebral edema. In 10 consecutive patients with fulminant hepatic failure (FHF), CBF autoregulation was found to be absent, as transcranial Doppler mean flow velocity (Vmean) in the middle cerebral artery increased from 49 (27-59) to 69 (49-92) cm/s (P < .05) during a 30- (28-34) mm Hg rise in mean arterial pressure (MAP).

Intraoperative measurement of graft blood flow--a necessity in liver transplantation.

Portal venous and hepatic arterial flow was measured intraoperatively in the 70 most recent patients undergoing liver transplantation in our institution. Impaired graft flow due to vascular abnormalities was detected in six patients. One patient suffered from arterial steal due to stenosis of the recipient celiac trunk with blood shunting from the hepatic to the splenic artery.

Induction of immunosuppression by microemulsion cyclosporine in liver transplantation.

Twenty-five liver transplant patients were administered liquid microemulsion cyclosporine (Neoral, 5 mg/kg b.i.d.

[Fulminant liver failure before and after introduction of liver transplantation at Rikshospitalet].

The impact of liver transplantation on the survival in fulminant hepatic failure was evaluated in a retrospective study including 87 patients admitted to Rigshospitalet over a three and a half year period before and a three and a half year period after the Danish liver transplantation programme was started. The number of admissions increased by 178% in the second period. Fifty-two percent of the patients had acetaminophen induced liver failure, which over the last seven years has become the most common cause of severe acute liver disease in Denmark.

Postoperative electrolyte and mineral balance after restorative proctocolectomy with ileoanal reservoir.

Postoperative electrolyte and mineral balance was studied in nine patients with ulcerative colitis who underwent restorative proctocolectomy with ileoanal reservoir (J-pouch). The study was carried out during the first seven days of bowel function after construction of the reservoir and temporary ileostomy, and again after the ileostomy was closed and bowel continuity re-established. Stool volume and intestinal sodium excretion were reduced by respectively 40 and 45% after ileostomy was closed (p < 0.

Cerebral blood flow velocity during high volume plasmapheresis in fulminant hepatic failure.

High volume plasmapheresis has previously been found to improve neurological statuses in patients with fulminant hepatic failure. We investigated the relationship between the neurological status and cerebral blood flow velocity (Vmean) during high volume plasmapheresis in 18 consecutive patients (ten females and eight males) with fulminant hepatic failure, with a mean age of 43 (range 9 to 57) years. The mean arterial pressure (MAP) and intracranial pressure (ICP) were also recorded.

[Radiological findings in patients with a J-shaped ileal reservoir].

This study comprised 116 patients with either ulcerative colitis or familial adenomatous polyposis, who were treated from 1983 to 1990. The patients were subjected to total colectomy followed by formation of an ileoanal reservoir (J-pouch). In a retrospective study the radiological findings of the J-pouch and the reservoir related complications are presented and a description of the applied technique for pouchography is given.

[Partial orthotopic liver transplantation].

From October 1990 to May 1992, nine of 38 patients with liver transplants (24%) had partial orthotopic liver transplantation on account of lack of size-matching donor livers. The preliminary results have presented very few problems; there was no per- or postoperative mortality and no surgical complications. Four patients had episodes of acute rejection which responded to anti-rejection therapy, and two patients were treated for CMV infection.

[Liver transplantation in Denmark. First-year experiences].

During the first 12 months of the Danish Liver Transplantation program, which began in October 1990, 21 transplantations were performed in 11 women, six men and three children. One patient required a retransplant. Fourteen operations were performed electively and six patients were transplanted for acute and subacute fulminant liver failure and coma, two patients had reduced size livers because of large donor liver.

Complications after J-pouch ileoanal anastomosis: stapled compared with handsewn anastomosis.

Objective: To compare the morbidity after stapled compared with handsewn J-pouch ileoanal anastomoses.

Design: Retrospective study.

Setting: University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Fibrin adhesive in the treatment of perineal fistulas.

Fifteen patients who developed a persistent perineal sinus after excision of the rectum and eight patients with a perineal fistula appearing after treatment of perineal abscesses were treated with instillation of fibrin adhesive to close the sinus or fistula. In 12 patients, the sinus tracts or fistulas were completely and permanently closed (52 percent). In five patients (22 percent), the fistulas healed after two or three attempts, while, in six patients (26 percent), the method failed to provide lasting closure.

Antibiotic prophylaxis in high risk biliary surgery: one dose of ceftriaxone compared with two doses of cefuroxime.

In a controlled trial 219 high risk patients undergoing biliary surgery were allocated at random by sealed envelopes to one of two treatment groups. Group I (n = 112) received a single dose ceftriaxone 1 g intravenously at the time of skin incision, and group II (n = 107) was given cefuroxime 1.5 g intravenously at the time of skin incision, followed by a second dose eight hours later.

Effect of major surgery on absorption rate of NPH insulin injected s.c.

The absorption rate of NPH insulin injected s.c. was evaluated before operation and on the day of surgery by continuous measurements of residual radioactivity of 125I-labelled insulin in 10 patients undergoing major abdominal surgery.