Growth and final height after liver transplantation during childhood

Objective: To evaluate the effect of end-stage pediatric liver disease and liver transplantation on growth and final height. Patients and Methods: We evaluated growth at 2 years (n = 101) and 5 years (n = 63) after pediatric liver transplantation (LTx). Twenty-three children reached final height. Height was expressed as a standard deviation score of the target height (z(TH) score) of each patient. Results: At the first 2 years after LTx, the z(TH) score was significantly increased from -1.7 to -1.3 SD (P <0.05). Growth at 2 or 5 years after LTx, expressed as Delta z(TH) score, was positively correlated with pretransplant growth retardation (P <0.05). In comparison with patients with noncholestatic primary liver disease, patients with cholestatic primary liver disease were more severely growth retarded before LTx (z(TH) score -2.0 vs -1.2 SD, P <0.05) and had better growth in the first 2 years after LTx (Delta z(TH) score +0.6 vs -0.1 SD, P