Living Donor Liver Transplantation in Children: Surgical and Immunological Results in 250 Recipients at Université Catholique de Louvain.

Objectives: To evaluate the outcome of pediatric living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) regarding portal vein (PV) reconstruction, ABO compatibility, and impact of maternal donation on graft acceptance.

Background: LDLT and ABO-mismatched transplantation constitute feasible options to alleviate organ shortage in children. Vascular complications of portal hypoplasia in biliary atresia (BA) and acute rejection (AR) are still major concerns in this field.

Risk factors and surgical management of anastomotic biliary complications after pediatric liver transplantation.

Biliary complications (BCs) still remain the Achilles heel of liver transplantation (LT) with an overall incidence of 10% to 35% in pediatric series. We hypothesized that (1) the use of alternative techniques (reduced size, split, and living donor grafts) in pediatric LT may contribute to an increased incidence of BCs, and (2) surgery as a first treatment option for anastomotic BCs could allow a definitive cure for the majority of these patients. Four hundred twenty-nine primary pediatric LT procedures, including 88, 91, 47, and 203 whole, reduced size, split, and living donor grafts, respectively, that were performed between July 1993 and November 2010 were retrospectively reviewed.

Impact of pre-transplant liver hemodynamics and portal reconstruction techniques on post-transplant portal vein complications in pediatric liver transplantation: a retrospective analysis in 197 recipients.

Background And Objective: Portal vein (PV) complications are the most frequent vascular complications in pediatric liver transplant (LT). We hypothesized that pre-LT liver hemodynamic parameters and PV reconstruction technique could predict the risk of PV complications post-LT.

Methods: Three hundred seventy-three children had a primary LT.

Steroid-free, tacrolimus-basiliximab immunosuppression in pediatric liver transplantation: clinical and pharmacoeconomic study in 50 children.

Corticosteroid-free immunosuppression (IS) may be potentially beneficial for transplanted patients, particularly children. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and cost of such strategy in primary pediatric liver transplantation (LT). Fifty pediatric LT recipients were prospectively treated with a steroid-free, tacrolimus-basiliximab-based IS (group TB).