Long-term follow-up of 23 operational tolerant liver transplant recipients.

Introduction: This is a follow-up of a withdrawal study that we previously performed on 104 liver transplant patients in which immunosuppression was gradually withdrawn over a period of 3 years. Eighty-one patients were not able to be withdrawn (rejectors), and 23 patients were successfully weaned off immunosuppression (tolerants).

Methods: In this study, we present their follow-up after the end of the withdrawal study: we compared the results of the tolerant patients (n=23) with those of the rejectors (n=81). Follow-up was until February 2010.

Results: Operational tolerant patients were off immunosuppression for an average of 7.27±0.28 years. Patient survival in the tolerant and the rejector groups was 63.66% and 74.25%, respectively (P=not significant). A patient in the rejector group received two retransplants for chronic rejection. In the rejector group, 19 patients presented 26 rejection episodes: clinically suspected (n=19) and biopsy-proven mild (n=4), moderate (n=2), and severe (n=1) rejection episodes. A tolerant patient had a moderate rejection episode of 5.3 years after immunosuppression withdrawal. In the rejector group, five patients received a kidney transplant and four more are on dialysis versus a tolerant patient on dialysis. Freedom from rejection in the tolerant and rejector groups was 95% and 73%, respectively (P<0.05), and freedom from renal replacement treatment was 83.33% vs. 44.58%, respectively (P=not significant).

Conclusions: Long-term outcomes of operationally tolerant liver transplant patients are at least as good as those of control patients. Operational tolerance is not a permanent state, and continuous vigilance is required to detect rejection episodes.