Growth curves of pediatric patients with biliary atresia following living donor liver transplantation: factors that influence post-transplantation growth.

We evaluated the growth curves of children with BA after LDLT, and identified factors influencing growth velocity one-yr after LDLT (DeltaZ). The clinical data of 51 children with BA, who had an LDLT at our center from 2001 to 2005, were retrospectively reviewed. The Z scores for height and weight, and DeltaZ were studied. The correlation between DeltaZ and various clinical factors was evaluated statistically. Multivariate stepwise analyses were performed for DeltaZ. The average height and weight Z scores at the time of LDLT were -1.34 +/- 1.36 (+/-s.d.) and -0.78 +/- 1.15, respectively. Among 30 BA recipients with stable liver function after transplant, weight returned to normal one-yr post-transplantation. However, height did not return to normal even by the third post-transplantation year. On multivariate analyses, 73% of the variance in height DeltaZ could be accounted for by factors such as standardized height at the time of LDLT (proportion of variance: 38%), number of steroid pulse treatments (17%), donor age (10%), and the presence of HVS (9%). Fifty-four percentage of the variance in weight DeltaZ could be accounted for by factors such as standardized weight at the time of LDLT (37%) and the total steroid dose given (17%). Height and weight status at the time of LDLT likely have the strongest impact on DeltaZ. Additional factors include steroid exposure, age of the living donor, and presence of HVS, all of which should be considered to improve post-transplantation growth.