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Liver Transplant Results Improve, but Re-Transplant Results Lag

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Advances in knowledge and techniques improved postoperative liver transplant outcomes, but optimizing re-liver transplant outcomes requires further research.

Initial liver transplant (LT) outcomes have improved over recent decades; however, liver re-transplant outcomes have not kept pace, Stanford University researchers report in Clinical Transplantation.

“Our study investigated the progress of liver re-transplant (re-LT) outcomes in the United States over the past two decades. Read the article in Physician’s Weekly.

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How a new liver became restaurant owner’s Christmas Eve miracle

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By Scarlett O’Hara

LEBANON, Ind. – Every family has its own holiday traditions. For one Lebanon man, Christmas Eve has become an extra special anniversary as he gets ready to celebrate the day he was given a second chance at life.

You can’t exactly unwrap a new liver on Christmas. Nonetheless, it’s Ernie Verbarg’s favorite gift he’s ever gotten. He waited eight months on the transplant list last year with a rare, progressive liver disease called “primary sclerosing cholangitis” – until a Christmas Eve miracle. Read the article in NewsNation.

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Organ recipient gives his own gift of health

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Retired physician Charlie White lay in a hospital bed at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville. From his room, he could see the helipad. Although very ill — he estimates weeks to months from death — he was keenly alert to each landing.

“Helicopters were coming in, and patients would come out on stretchers,” he recalls. “And then one landed, and a doctor came out. Holding a box.”

In that box was the liver that would save Dr. White’s life. Read the article from Geisinger.

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‘The gift of life’: Donors ensure every child waiting for liver transplant will likely get one this year

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Around 100 people considered becoming donors for 10 kids on the waitlist

By Colette Bordelon

DENVER — In September, Children’s Hospital Colorado asked healthy adults to consider donating part of their liver. An estimated 100 people responded, meaning the 10 children on the transplant waitlist will likely receive the life-saving gift. Read more from Denver 7 News.

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Study Details AKI Prevalence, Risk Factors in Infant Liver Transplant Patients

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By Abigail Brooks, MA

60.2% of infant living-related liver transplant recipients developed AKI within 7 days of surgery and experienced more frequent serious complications, longer hospital stays, and a greater duration of postoperative mechanical ventilation compared to those who did not develop AKI.

Preoperative transfusion and decreased serum creatine levels are independently associated with acute kidney injury (AKI) in infant living-related liver transplant recipients with biliary atresia, according to findings from a retrospective study. Read the full article in HCP Live.

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Model predicts a 23% increase in MASLD prevalence from 2020 to 2050

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By Kate Burba

BOSTON — A new model forecasted a “substantial clinical burden” of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease in the next 30 years, including twice as many cases of liver cancer and triple the need for liver transplantation.

“The prevalence of NAFLD has been increasing significantly both worldwide and in the U.S.,” Phuc Le, PhD, MPH, assistant professor of medicine at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, said at The Liver Meeting media briefing. Read the full article in Healio.

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Liver transplantation using COVID-19 positive donors may be safe option to expand access

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By Monica Stonehill

BOSTON — Researchers reported similar patient and allograft survival 1 year after liver transplantation between COVID-19 positive and negative donors, showing potential for expanding organ access, according to data at The Liver Meeting.

“During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the volume of liver transplants decreased worldwide,” Roy X. Wang, MD, of Penn Medicine, said in a related Q&A with AASLD.
Read the full story in Healio.

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Study Details AKI Prevalence, Risk Factors in Infant Liver Transplant Patients

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By Abigail Brooks, MA

60.2% of infant living-related liver transplant recipients developed AKI within 7 days of surgery and experienced more frequent serious complications, longer hospital stays, and a greater duration of postoperative mechanical ventilation compared to those who did not develop AKI.

Preoperative transfusion and decreased serum creatine levels are independently associated with acute kidney injury (AKI) in infant living-related liver transplant recipients with biliary atresia, according to findings from a retrospective study. Read more in HCP Live.

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Emergency Liver Transplant Effective for Severe Acute-on-Chronic Liver Failure

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— 1-year survival reached 78% for patients who received an emergency transplant

By Mike Bassett

BOSTON — Prioritizing emergency liver transplantation for patients with severe acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) resulted in relatively good survival outcomes, according to a U.K. study presented here.

Among 39 critically ill patients who were able to undergo emergency transplant, survival reached 85% at a median follow-up of 171 days, with a 1-year survival rate of 78%, reported William Bernal, MD, of King’s College Hospital in London. Read the full article in MedPage Today.

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‘It brought me tears of joy’: Liver transplant gives patient a second chance at life

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UC Davis Health’s new liver transplant program is only such program in California north of San Francisco


(SACRAMENTO) Juan Velasco is enjoying a new chapter of his life in Rio Dell, in Northern California’s Humboldt County.

This past summer, after working 22 years as a water distribution operator for the City of Eureka, Velasco had finally retired. However, within a few weeks he began experiencing intense pain in his abdomen. Soon after, his stomach and legs began to swell with fluid.
Read the full story in UC Davis Health News.

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