Early lactate clearance as a reliable predictor of initial poor graft function after orthotopic liver transplantation

BACKGROUND:Initial poor graft function (IPGF) following orthotopic liver transplantation is a major determinant of postoperative survival and morbidity.Lactate clearance is a good marker of liver function.In this study,we investigated the clinical utility of early lactate clearance as an early and accurate predictor for IPGF following liver transplantation.METHODS:This was a prospective observational study of 222 patients referred to the surgical intensive care unit (SICU) after orthotopic liver transplantation.The IPGF group consisted of patients with alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and/or aspartate aminotransferase (AST) >1500 IU/L within 72 hours after orthotopic liver transplantation.Early lactate clearance was defined as lactate at SICU presentation (hour 0) minus lactate at hour 6,divided by lactate at SICU presentation.The model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score,Child-Pugh score and laboratory data including AST,ALT,total bilirubin (TB) and prothrombin time (PT) were recorded at SICU presentation and compared between the non-IPGF and IPGF groups Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted to measure the performance of early lactate clearance,MELD score,Child-Pugh score,TB and PT.RESULTS:IPGF occurred in 45 of the 222 patients (20.3%).The early lactate clearance in the non-IPGF group was markedly higher than that in the IPGF group (43.2±13.8% vs 13.4±13.7% P<0.001).The optimum cut-off value for early lactate clearance predicting IPGF was 24.8% (sensitivity 95.5%,specificity 88.9%).The area under the curve of the ROC was 0.961,which was significantly superior to MELD score,Child-Pugh score TB and PT.Patients with early lactate clearance ≤24.8% had a higher IPGF rate (OR=169) and a higher risk of in-hospital mortality (OR=3.625).CONCLUSIONS:Early lactate clearance can serve as a prompt and accurate bedside predictor of IPGF.Patients with early lactate clearance less than 24.8% are associated with a higher incidence of IPGF.

Primary graft dysfunction after liver transplantation

BACKGROUND: Primary graft dysfunction (PGD) causes complications in liver transplantation, which result in poor prognosis. Recipients who develop PGD usually experience a longer intensive care unit and hospital stay and have higher mortality and graft loss rates compared with those without graft dysfunction. However, because of the lack of universally accepted definition, early diagnosis of graft dysfunction is difficult. Additionally, numerous factors affect the allograft function after transplantation, making the prediction of PGD more difficult. The present review was to analyze the literature available on PGD and to propose a definition.DATA SOURCE: A search of PubMed (up to the end of 2012) for English-language articles relevant to PGD was performed to clarify the characteristics, risk factors, and possible treatments or interventions for PGD.RESULTS: There is no pathological diagnostic standard; many documented definitions of PGD are different. Many factors such as donor status, procurement and transplant process and recipient illness may affect the function of graft, and ischemia reperfusion injury is considered the direct cause. Potentia managements which are helpful to improve graft function were investigated. Some of them are promising.CONCLUSIONS: Our analyses suggested that the definition of PGD should include one or more of the following variables: (1)bilirubin ≥10 mg/dL on postoperative day 7; (2) internationa normalized ratio ≥1.6 on postoperative day 7; and (3) alanine aminotransferase or aspartate aminotransferase 】2000 IU/L within 7 postoperative days. Reducing risk factors may decrease the incidence of PGD. A majority of the recipients could recover from PGD; however, when the graft progresses intoprimary non-function, the patients need to be treated with retransplantation.

Predictive factors of short term outcome after liver transplantation: A review

Liver transplantation represents a fundamental therapeutic solution to end-stage liver disease. The need for liver allografts has extended the set of criteria for organ acceptability, increasing the risk of adverse outcomes. Little is known about the early postoperative parameters that can be used as valid predictive indices for early graft function, retransplantation or surgical reintervention, secondary complications, long intensive care unit stay or death. In this review, we present state-of-the-art knowledge regarding the early post-transplantation tests and scores that can be applied during the first postoperative week to predict liver allograft function and patient outcome, thereby guiding the therapeutic and surgical decisions of the medical staff. Post-transplant clinical and biochemical assessment of patients through laboratory tests (platelet count, transaminase and bilirubin levels, INR, factor V, lactates, and Insulin Growth Factor 1) and scores (model for end-stage liver disease, acute physiology and chronic health evaluation, sequential organ failure assessment and model of early allograft function) have been reported to have good performance, but they only allow late evaluation of patient status and graft function, requiring days to be quantified. The indocyanine green plasma disappearance rate has long been used as a liver function assessment technique and has produced interesting, although not univocal, results when performed between the 1th and the 5th day after transplantation. The liver maximal function capacity test is a promising method of metabolic liver activity assessment, but its use is limited by economic cost and extrahepatic factors. To date, a consensual definition of early allograft dysfunction and the integration and validation of the above-mentioned techniques, through the development of numerically consistent multicentric prospective randomised trials, are necessary. The medical and surgical management of transplanted patients could be greatly improved by using clinically reliable tools to predict early graft function.