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Transplantation within 7 days of listing boosts survival in acute-on-chronic liver failure

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LONDON — Early liver transplantation within 7 days of listing was linked to improved 90-day and 1-year survival among patients with grade 3 acute-on-chronic liver failure, according to data presented at the International Liver Congress.

“Currently, the ideal time frame between listing and liver transplantation to achieve optimal patient outcome in [grade 3 acute-on-chronic liver failure] is not known,” Joseph J. Alukal, MD, of Platinum Hospitalists and Spring Valley Hospital Medical Center in Nevada, told Healio. Read more in Healio.

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In rare medical procedure, these two women share one liver

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Maria Contreras and Monica Davis share many things — including a vital organ.

The two Ohio women, who refer to themselves as “split-liver sisters,” received a liver transplant on July 1, 2020. But it wasn’t an ordinary transplant surgery: They had a split-liver transplantation, in which a donor’s liver was divided into two distinct portions, which were then implanted into each patient. Read the full story in The Washington Post.

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New GW Liver Transplantation Program Performs Inaugural, Multi-Organ Transplant

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The GW Transplant Institute is the newest facility in the District to offer liver transplants.

The George Washington University Transplant Institute’s Liver Transplantation Program and surgeons Stephen Gray and Lynt Johnson recently completed the institute’s first liver transplant.

For the inaugural transplant, the surgical team was faced with a multi-organ procedure, replacing both the patient’s liver and kidney. Read the full story in GW Today.

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Kidney, heart transplant ‘years ahead of’ LT in development, implementation of biomarkers

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Although the development and use of biomarkers in liver transplantation has progressed in recent years, challenges and limitations remain, according to presenters at the American Transplant Congress 2022.

Thomas D. Schiano, MD, professor of medicine and liver diseases at Mount Sinai in New York, told attendees that among transplant patients, biomarkers should monitor short- and long-term graft function, predict acute and chronic disease development, assess donor organ quality or monitor response to therapeutic intervention. Further, biomarkers should have external validation. Read the full article in Healio.

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A new storage technique could vastly expand the number of livers available for transplant

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It allows donor livers to be held for days—significantly longer than the standard now–and even treated if they are damaged.

A patient who received a donated liver that had been stored for three days in a new type of machine that mimics the human body is healthy one year on from surgery, according to a study in Nature Biotechnology. The technology could significantly increase the number of livers suitable for transplant, the authors claim, both by enabling donor livers to be preserved for longer than the current standard and by making it possible to repair organs that are available but too damaged to transplant as is. Read the full story from MIT Technology Review.

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Study outlines risk factors for autoimmune hepatitis after liver transplant

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A multicenter study performed by a large international consortium that includes UT Southwestern has outlined a set of risk factors and outcomes for patients with autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) that recurs after liver transplantation. The findings, published in the Journal of Hepatology, represent a first step toward better managing and potentially preventing this uncommon condition.

“Autoimmune hepatitis is a very rare disorder of the liver, and liver transplant is a rare surgical procedure, with only 9,236 performed in the United States in 2021.
Read the full story in News Medical Life Sciences.

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‘Liver Sisters’ celebrate 20 years of successful living donor liver transplant

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They often shared a church pew on Sundays in their Spartanburg, South Carolina, church, but now Karen Randall and Kathy Hodge share much more and have for 20 years. Called the “Liver Sisters” by Hodge’s husband, the two have an incredible bond that has been celebrated throughout the years and every April during National Donate Life Month.

Healthy all her life, Randall was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder, primary biliary cholangitis, during a routine check-up in 1995 when she was 41-years-old. The disorder inflames the bile ducts between the liver and the small intestines, which eventually collapse and cause liver damage. The progressive disease would mean that Randall would need a liver transplant within five years. Read the full article from Emory News Center.

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MELD Scoring for Liver Transplants in Need of Sex Adjustment, Study Says

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— Researchers find “pervasive sex differences” in sodium-adjusted MELD scoring system

Laboratory traits used in the calculation of sodium-adjusted model for end-stage liver disease (MELDNa) scores placed women at a distinct disadvantage, researchers reported.

In an electronic health record (EHR)-based study of more than 600,000 participants, all calculated laboratory values that make up the scoring system showed significant and “pervasive sex differences” between women and men, respectively (P<0.001 for all):
-Mean creatinine: 0.79 vs 0.99 mg/dL
-Bilirubin: 0.58 vs 0.76 mg/dL
-International normalized ratio of prothrombin rate: 1.20 vs 1.24
-Sodium: 139.03 vs 139.00 mEq/L
Read the full story in MedPage Today.

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AI could save lives by identifying relapse risk in potential liver transplant patients

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Predicting the variables that could lead to damaging alcohol use in post-surgical cases may spur lifesaving interventions, a USC study finds.

A screening tool developed with artificial intelligence and trained on hundreds of hours of patient interviews could flag risks for relapse in liver transplant patients with alcohol use disorder — and prompt precise interventions, according to a new USC study.
Read the full story from USC News.

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