Change in variant transthyretin levels in patients with familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy type I following liver transplantation.

Three patients with familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy (FAP) type I underwent liver transplantation from heart-beating cadaveric donors. Since 2 patients underwent blood transfusion during the operation, variant transthyretin (TTR) levels in the plasma did not decrease time dependently. However, in 1 patient without blood transfusion variant TTR levels decreased in a time dependent manner and plasma half life of variant TTR was calculated to be 2.1 days. Total protein, normal, and variant TTR levels in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) remained unchanged after liver transplantation.