Four years' experience with cyclosporin A in pediatric kidney transplantation.

From 1982 to 1987 sixty-three children were treated with cyclosporin A and low dose prednisolone after kidney transplantation. Patient survival rate at 4 years after transplantation was 98.3%, survival rate of living related grafts 100% (n = 10), and survival rate of cadaveric grafts 73% (n = 53).

[Pregnancy following liver transplantation and during immunosuppression with cyclosporine].

Orthotopic liver transplantation had been performed in 1983 in a now 40-year-old woman in the terminal stage of posthepatitis liver cirrhosis with recurrent oesophageal bleedings and precoma from complete liver-cell failure. She became pregnant in 1988 while under immunosuppression with cyclosporin (2.1-2.

[Liver resection in 157 patients with colorectal metastases].

The mean life expectancy for patients with hepatic metastases from colorectal carcinoma is poor. Removal of those tumors leads to an improvement of this situation. In 157 patients with colorectal metastases liver resection was performed.

Budd-Chiari syndrome: portacaval shunt and subsequent liver transplantation.

The Budd-Chiari syndrome (BCS) is caused by hepatic venous outflow obstruction, which often leads to death as a result of portal hypertension and liver failure. Therapeutic approaches vary widely from conventional medical therapy to liver transplantation. If and when a patient suffering with BCS needs surgery remains a matter of contention.

Significance of arterial ketone body ratio measurement in human liver transplantation.

Arterial ketone body ratio (KBR), which reflects the NAD+/NADH ratio of hepatic mitochondria, was measured sequentially in 39 liver transplantations. In 22 cases, KBR was increased to above 0.7 within 6 hr after reperfusion (group A).

HTK-solution (Bretschneider) for human liver transplantation. First clinical experiences.

The cardioplegic HTK-solution (Bretschneider) has not been used in human liver transplantation as yet. Herein the first results obtained from 14 patients with HTK-preserved liver grafts are presented. The suitability of HTK-solution could be shown.

Experience with partial liver transplantation in Hannover.

Within a 7-year period 37 PLTx have been performed in 32 patients (25 children, 7 adults). Age at the time of operation was 5 years in two-thirds of all cases (23 of 37). Indications were elective in 17 patients and urgent in 20.

Unusually rapid development of a HBsAG-positive liver cirrhosis after liver transplantation.

We report the case of a 44-year-old man who was transplanted in 1986 for hepatocellular carcinoma in a HBsAG-positive liver cirrhosis. The patient had no severe complications postoperatively. He received passive immunization for the prevention of hepatitis B reinfection during the first 6 months after liver grafting.

[Clinical syndromes with liver and kidney involvement in children and adults].

Multiple pathogenetic mechanisms can lead to dysfunctions or malformations of the liver and kidneys in children and adults. The association of renal and hepatic abnormalities can be found in different congenital malformation syndromes. Hereditary metabolic disorders are capable of alternating liver and kidney function.

Liver transplantation for malignant tumours.

Despite considerable overall progress in human liver transplantation the results obtained in patients with malignant tumours have not improved significantly over the past years. One of the crucial questions in the ongoing controversial discussion remains the identification of tumour patients with the most favourable prognosis. In a consecutive series of 114 patients who received hepatic transplants for various malignant tumours of the liver and biliary tract, at least some factors could be shown to play a prognostic role.

Score-aided decision making in patients with severe liver damage after hepatic transplantation.

This article describes how a system of scoring risk factors contributes to deciding whether a patient showing signs of liver failure soon after hepatic transplantation should be treated expectedly or should undergo immediate retransplantation. Of 78 adult patients receiving a first liver graft, 25 had evidence of severe damage of the graft and were further investigated. Nine had failure due to irreversible initial nonfunction, and 2 of the 9 died before a second graft was available.

Lignocaine metabolite formation as a measure of pre-transplant liver function.

A method for rapid assessment of hepatic function in liver donors based on the formation of the lignocaine metabolite monoethylglycinexylidide (MEGX), was used in a prospective study of 69 donor-recipient pairs. The probability of graft survival over 120 days was significantly higher for livers from donors with MEGX test values above 90 micrograms/l than for those from donors with MEGX values of 90 micrograms/l or below. Other liver function tests (bilirubin, prothrombin time, activity of aminotransferases, glutamate dehydrogenase, and cholinesterase, indocyanine green clearance, and galactose elimination capacity) were inefficient at predicting early outcome of transplantation.

Bile duct injury as a part of diagnostic criteria for liver allograft rejection.

The decisive criterium of acute liver allograft rejection was found to be the presence of the diagnostic triad of acute rejection; ie, the presence of portal inflammatory mixed infiltrates, venous endothelialitis (both portal and central), and bile duct injury. On the basis of the presence of each of the components of the diagnostic triad, criteria for the diagnosis of different degrees of acute rejection were developed, particularly focusing attention on a detailed analysis of bile duct injury. Bile duct injury was shown to be an essential part of the histopathologic changes in all grades of acute rejection in the liver allograft, the grade of severity of bile duct injury correlating to a certain extent with the grade of severity of acute rejection.