Was familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy linked to early blood clots after liver transplantation?

Details

Early thrombotic complications are important causes of in-hospital illness after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) and can lead to graft loss. Researchers retrospectively analysed these complications to identify associated independent risk factors.

The analysis included 223 OLTs performed on 213 patients over 30 months; 86 OLTs were performed on patients with familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy (FAP). The researchers analysed preoperative details, including primary diagnosis and Child-Turcotte-Pugh classification when applicable; surgical features, including the type of arterial reconstruction; postoperative variables; and outcomes. Observation ended at 30 days after OLT, discharge or in-hospital death.

Early thrombotic complications were diagnosed in 16 cases (7.2%), mainly in FAP patients (12 cases). Hepatic artery thrombosis (HAT) was the most frequent early thrombotic event, with 12 cases: its incidence was 11.6% in FAP patients (10 cases) versus 1.5% in non-FAP patients (2 cases), P = 0.001.

Logistic regression identified FAP as an independent risk factor for early thrombotic complications, specifically HAT. The type of arterial reconstruction and the other surgical and medical factors analysed did not influence early HAT occurrence. The authors concluded that FAP was an independent risk factor for early HAT in this study, a finding they described as not yet reported in the literature.