Vinay Sundaram1, Shannon Kogachi2, Robert J Wong3, Constantine J Karvellas4, Brett E Fortune5, Nadim Mahmud6, Josh Levitsky7, Robert S Rahimi8, Rajiv Jalan9. 1. Division of Gastroenterology and Comprehensive Transplant Center, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA. Electronic address: Vinay.Sundaram@cshs.org. 2. Division of Gastroenterology and Comprehensive Transplant Center, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA. 3. Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Alameda Health System, Highland Hospital, Oakland, CA, USA. 4. Department of Critical Care and Division of Gastroenterology (Liver Unit), University of Alberta, Edmonton AB, Canada. 5. Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA. 6. Division of Gastroenterology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA. 7. Division of Gastroenterology, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA. 8. Division of Hepatology, Baylor Scott & White Hospital, Dallas, TX, USA. 9. Liver Failure Group, Institute for Liver and Digestive Health, UCL Medical School, London, UK.
Abstract
BACKGROUND & AIMS: Patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) can be listed for liver transplantation (LT) because LT is the only curative treatment option. We evaluated whether the clinical course of ACLF, particularly ACLF-3, between the time of listing and LT affects 1-year post-transplant survival. METHODS: We identified patients from the United Network for Organ Sharing database who were transplanted within 28 days of listing and categorized them by ACLF grade at waitlist registration and LT, according to the EASL-CLIF definition. RESULTS: A total of 3,636 patients listed with ACLF-3 underwent LT within 28 days. Among those transplanted, 892 (24.5%) recovered to no ACLF or ACLF grade 1 or 2 (ACLF 0-2) and 2,744 (75.5%) had ACLF-3 at transplantation. One-year survival was 82.0% among those transplanted with ACLF-3 vs. 88.2% among those improving to ACLF 0-2 (p <0.001). Conversely, the survival of patients listed with ACLF 0-2 who progressed to ACLF-3 at LT (n = 2,265) was significantly lower than that of recipients who remained at ACLF 0-2 (n = 17,631) at the time of LT (83.8% vs. 90.2%, p <0.001). Cox modeling demonstrated that recovery from ACLF-3 to ACLF 0-2 at LT was associated with reduced 1-year mortality after transplantation (hazard ratio0.65; 95% CI 0.53-0.78). Improvement in circulatory failure, brain failure, and removal from mechanical ventilation were also associated with reduced post-LT mortality. Among patients >60 years of age, 1-year survival was significantly higher among those who improved from ACLF-3 to ACLF 0-2 than among those who did not. CONCLUSIONS: Improvement from ACLF-3 at listing to ACLF 0-2 at transplantation enhances post-LT survival, particularly in those who recovered from circulatory or brain failure, or were removed from the mechanical ventilator. The beneficial effect of improved ACLF on post-LT survival was also observed among patients >60 years of age. LAY SUMMARY: Liver transplantation (LT) for patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure grade 3 (ACLF-3) significantly improves survival, but 1-year survival probability after LT remains lower than the expected outcomes for transplant centers. Our study reveals that among patients transplanted within 28 days of waitlist registration, improvement of ACLF-3 at listing to a lower grade of ACLF at transplantation significantly enhances post-transplant survival, even among patients aged 60 years or older. Subgroup analysis further demonstrates that improvement in circulatory failure, brain failure, or removal from mechanical ventilation have the strongest impact on post-transplant survival.
BACKGROUND & AIMS:Patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) can be listed for liver transplantation (LT) because LT is the only curative treatment option. We evaluated whether the clinical course of ACLF, particularly ACLF-3, between the time of listing and LT affects 1-year post-transplant survival. METHODS: We identified patients from the United Network for Organ Sharing database who were transplanted within 28 days of listing and categorized them by ACLF grade at waitlist registration and LT, according to the EASL-CLIF definition. RESULTS: A total of 3,636 patients listed with ACLF-3 underwent LT within 28 days. Among those transplanted, 892 (24.5%) recovered to no ACLF or ACLF grade 1 or 2 (ACLF 0-2) and 2,744 (75.5%) had ACLF-3 at transplantation. One-year survival was 82.0% among those transplanted with ACLF-3 vs. 88.2% among those improving to ACLF 0-2 (p <0.001). Conversely, the survival of patients listed with ACLF 0-2 who progressed to ACLF-3 at LT (n = 2,265) was significantly lower than that of recipients who remained at ACLF 0-2 (n = 17,631) at the time of LT (83.8% vs. 90.2%, p <0.001). Cox modeling demonstrated that recovery from ACLF-3 to ACLF 0-2 at LT was associated with reduced 1-year mortality after transplantation (hazard ratio0.65; 95% CI 0.53-0.78). Improvement in circulatory failure, brain failure, and removal from mechanical ventilation were also associated with reduced post-LT mortality. Among patients >60 years of age, 1-year survival was significantly higher among those who improved from ACLF-3 to ACLF 0-2 than among those who did not. CONCLUSIONS: Improvement from ACLF-3 at listing to ACLF 0-2 at transplantation enhances post-LT survival, particularly in those who recovered from circulatory or brain failure, or were removed from the mechanical ventilator. The beneficial effect of improved ACLF on post-LT survival was also observed among patients >60 years of age. LAY SUMMARY: Liver transplantation (LT) for patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure grade 3 (ACLF-3) significantly improves survival, but 1-year survival probability after LT remains lower than the expected outcomes for transplant centers. Our study reveals that among patients transplanted within 28 days of waitlist registration, improvement of ACLF-3 at listing to a lower grade of ACLF at transplantation significantly enhances post-transplant survival, even among patients aged 60 years or older. Subgroup analysis further demonstrates that improvement in circulatory failure, brain failure, or removal from mechanical ventilation have the strongest impact on post-transplant survival.
Authors: Vinay Sundaram; Rajiv Jalan; Tiffany Wu; Michael L Volk; Sumeet K Asrani; Andrew S Klein; Robert J Wong Journal: Gastroenterology Date: 2018-12-18 Impact factor: 22.682
Authors: Gregory C Wilson; R Cutler Quillin; Koffi Wima; Jeffrey M Sutton; Richard S Hoehn; Dennis J Hanseman; Ian M Paquette; Flavio Paterno; E Steve Woodle; Daniel E Abbott; Shimul A Shah Journal: HPB (Oxford) Date: 2014-08-06 Impact factor: 3.647
Authors: Rajiv Jalan; Faouzi Saliba; Marco Pavesi; Alex Amoros; Richard Moreau; Pere Ginès; Eric Levesque; Francois Durand; Paolo Angeli; Paolo Caraceni; Corinna Hopf; Carlo Alessandria; Ezequiel Rodriguez; Pablo Solis-Muñoz; Wim Laleman; Jonel Trebicka; Stefan Zeuzem; Thierry Gustot; Rajeshwar Mookerjee; Laure Elkrief; German Soriano; Joan Cordoba; Filippo Morando; Alexander Gerbes; Banwari Agarwal; Didier Samuel; Mauro Bernardi; Vicente Arroyo Journal: J Hepatol Date: 2014-06-17 Impact factor: 25.083
Authors: Ben F J Goudsmit; Andries E Braat; Maarten E Tushuizen; Minneke J Coenraad; Serge Vogelaar; Ian P J Alwayn; Bart van Hoek; Hein Putter Journal: JHEP Rep Date: 2021-09-29