Long-term results of pediatric liver transplantation in a combined pediatric and adult transplant program.

Background: Liver transplantation is now routine therapy for a variety of childhood liver diseases; however, there are no detailed reports of long-term results from a Canadian centre. We reviewed data from the first 16 years of a pediatric liver transplantation program to determine survival, complications and long-term outcomes.

Methods: The outcomes to December 2000 for all children (age less than 18 years) who received a liver transplant at the London Health Sciences Centre between April 1984 and December 1999 were reviewed.

Predictive value of quantitative PCR-based viral burden analysis for eight human herpesviruses in pediatric solid organ transplant patients.

Human herpesviruses can cause significant morbidity and mortality in pediatric solid organ transplant recipients. It was hypothesized that viral burden quantification by polymerase chain reaction using an internal calibration standard could aid in distinguishing between viral disease and latency. Here we report the results of a 2-year prospective study of 27 pediatric solid organ (liver, kidney, or heart) transplant recipients in which multiple samples were analyzed for levels of all eight human herpesviruses by internal calibration standard-polymerase chain reaction.