Risk Of Developing Liver Cancer After HCV Treatment

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Quality of life after liver tranplants/ 20 Years Post Transplant


Liver transplantation restores quality of life
A study in this month's Annals of Surgery investigates long-term patient outcome and quality of life after liver transplantation.
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20-year patient survival was 52%.
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Dr John Duffy and colleagues evaluated patient survival and allograft function and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) 20 years after orthotopic liver transplantation.
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Although liver transplantation is the established treatment of choice for acute and chronic liver failure, allograft function and recipient health-related quality of life -HRQOL 20 years after liver transplantation remain undefined.
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The researchers performed a prospective, cross-sectional study of liver transplantation recipients surviving 20 years or more.
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The research team reviewed clinical data to identify factors associated with 20-year survival.
20-year patient survival was 52%
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Annals of Surgery
Survivors were directly contacted and offered a survey to assess
health-related quality of life-HRQOL, social support, and cognition.
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Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify clinical factors influencing health-related quality of life-HRQOL 20 years after liver transplantation.
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The team noted that between 1984 and 1988, a total of 293 patients received 348 liver transplantations.
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Of the 293 patients, 56% survived for 20 years or more.
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The team found that actuarial 20-year patient survival was 52%, and 42% for graft survival.
Factors associated with 20-year survival included recipient age less than 18, nonurgent liver transplantation, no retransplantation, female gender, absence of biliary complications, and short total ischemia time.
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Rejection episodes were seen in a greater proportion of 20-year survivors than in nonsurvivors. Of the 168 survivors, 87 were contacted, and 68 completed the health-related quality of life-HRQOL surveys.
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The research team found that, compared with the general population, survivors had lower physical scores but comparable mental scores on the Short-Form-36.
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Overall health-related quality of life- HRQOL was significantly better in 20-year survivors than in patients with chronic liver disease, congestive heart failure, or diabetes.
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Clinical factors associated with improved post-liver transplantation health-related quality of life-HRQOL were younger age at liver transplantation, allograft longevity, and strong social support.
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More than 90% of pediatric survivors completed high school.
After liver transplantation, 34% of pediatric recipients married, and 79% remained married at 20 years' follow-up.
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Dr Duffy's team concludes, "More than 50% of liver transplantation recipients survive 20 years, achieve important socioeconomic milestones, and report quality of life superior to patients with liver disease or other chronic conditions."
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"Liver transplantation is a durable surgery that restores both long-term physiologic and psychologic well-being in patients with end-stage liver disease."
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