The Recanati/Miller Transplantation Institute
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Programs Liver Transplantation Adult Liver: Retransplants/Recurrent Diseases
Introduction |
Referrals |
Evaluation |
Preoperative Experience |
Recurrent Hepatitis C Reflecting the national trend, the most common indication for transplantation at Mount Sinai is hepatitis C. Although most patients who undergo transplantation for hepatitis C do very well, it has become increasingly apparent that recurrent diseases can be progressive and severely compromise your long-term quality of life. Our patients have had a 44 percent incidence of recurrence on liver biopsy and a 7 percent incidence of a severe form called fibrosing cholestatic hepatitis characterized by rapidly progressive liver failure leading to death or retransplantation. Of our 515 patients transplanted for hepatitis C, 31 (6 percent) have required retransplantation for recurrent disease. Recurrent Autoimmune Hepatitis Several transplant programs have reported the recurrence of autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) after transplantation with incidences ranging from 10-30 percent. Our results show that patients transplanted for AIH do very well as a group; the likelihood of sever recurrence damaging the transplanted liver is around 12 percent. |
any liver diseases recur after transplantation. The severity of recurrence and its specific effect on the patient, however, vary with the nature of each disease. Recurrence of cholestatic liver diseases such as primary sclerosing cholangitis and primary biliary cirrhosis are usually mild with minimal clinical significance. Recurrent hepatitis B and C can be severe and progress rapidly. Since 1988, 290 (15 percent) of liver transplants at our center have been retransplants.