Clinical analysis of Wernicke encephalopathy after liver transplantation

Background:Wernicke encephalopathy(WE)is an acute neurological disease resulting from vitamin B1 deficiency,and there are only very few case reports of WE after liver transplantation.The present study aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics,etiology,magnetic resonance imaging(MRI)features,treatment and prognosis of patients with WE after liver transplantation.Methods:Twenty-three patients with WE after liver transplantation from the First Affiliated Hospital,Zhejiang University School of Medicine and Jiangxi Provincial People’s Hospital between January 2011 and December 2021 were retrospectively analyzed.Results:Among the 23 patients diagnosed with WE after liver transplantation,6(26%)had a classic triad of impaired consciousness,oculomotor palsy and ataxia,and 17(74%)had two features.The misdiagno-sis rate was 65%.After treatment with high-dose vitamin B1,19(83%)patients showed improvement,whereas 4(17%)showed no improvement,including 3 with residual short-term memory impairments and 1 with residual spatial and temporal disorientation and ataxia.Conclusions:The misdiagnosis rate is high in the early stage of WE,and the prognosis is closely asso-ciated with whether WE is diagnosed early and treated timely.High-dose glucose or glucocorticoids can trigger WE and cannot be administered before vitamin B1 treatment.Vitamin B1 is suggested to be used as a prophylactic treatment for patients with WE after liver transplantation.

Efficacy and safety of sirolimus early conversion protocol in liver transplant patients with hepatocellular carcinoma:A single-arm, multicenter, prospective study

Mammalian target of rapamycin(m TOR) inhibitor as an attractive drug target with promising antitumor effects has been widely investigated. High quality clinical trial has been conducted in liver transplant(LT) recipients in Western countries. However, the pertinent studies in Eastern world are paucity. Therefore, we designed a clinical trial to test whether sirolimus can improve recurrence-free survival(RFS) in hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) patients beyond the Milan criteria after LT. This is an open-labeled, single-arm, prospective, multicenter, and real-world study aiming to evaluate the clinical outcomes of early switch to sirolimus-based regimens in HCC patients after LT. Patients with a histologically proven HCC and beyond the Milan criteria will be enrolled. The initial immunosuppressant regimens are center-specifc for the frst 4-6 weeks. The following regimens integrated sirolimus into the regimens as a combination therapy with reduced calcineurin inhibitors based on the condition of patients and centers. The study is planned for 4 years in total with a 2-year enrollment period and a 2-year follow-up. We predict that sirolimus conversion regimen will provide survival benefts for patients particular in the key indicator RFS as well as better quality of life. If the trial is conducted successfully, we will have a continued monitoring over a longer follow-up time to estimate indicator of overall survival. We hope that the outcome will provide better evidence for clinical decision-making and revising treatment guidelines based on Chinese population data.