Liver retransplantation: indications and outcomes.

Background: Liver transplantation is a life-saving therapeutic modality for patients with end-stage liver diseases. After liver transplantation, however, more than 10% patients may lose the grafts caused by a variety of reasons. This review covers the most frequent indications for liver retransplantation as well as the results and specific problems with each indication.

Data Resources: Searching MEDLINE (1997-2003) for articles on liver retransplantation.

Results: The most frequent indications of liver retransplantation are primary non-function, hepatic artery thrombosis, graft rejection and recurrent diseases. The results after liver retransplantation remain inferior to those after first transplantation.

Conclusion: Liver retransplantation, which is the only means of prolonging survival in those patients whose initial graft has failed, makes an important contribution to overall survival.