Results of long-time follow up of patients who survived more than 5 years after liver transplantation: a single center experience

To investigate liver transplantation patients who survived for more than 5 years for the occurrences of their various long-term complications, prevention and treatment.By May 31, 2010, totally 69 patients who had received liver transplantation from July 2000 to May 2005 in Peking University People's Hospital were still alive. We reviewed the clinical data of these patients and the recent records of their liver and kidney functions, blood pressure, blood sugar and blood fat, etc. The occurrences of their various long-term complications were summarized and the status of treatment was studied.In these 69 patients, 39.1% (27/69) of them were overweight or obese, 33.3% (23/69) had post transplantation diabetes mellitus (PTDM), 26.1% (18/69) had hyperlipemia, 20.3% (14/69) suffered from renal insufficiency, 15.9% (11/69) had hypertension and 23.2% (16/69) had hyperuricemia. Interestingly, the occurrences of PTDM and hyperlipemia in overweight or obese patients were higher than those in normal weight patients (48.2% vs. 23.8% and 40.7% vs. 16.7%, P<0.05). In addition, hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection recurred in 4 patients out of the 61 patients who had HBV related liver disease pre-operation, and liver cancer relapsed in 3 patients out of the 19 patients who had hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) pre-operation. Totally 4 patients received re-transplant during the follow-up.The occurrences of long-term complications in liver transplantation patients who survived for more than 5 years were rather high, so the follow-up should be strengthened and procedures done to avoid the exacerbation of these complications.PubMed04612-54