Premium
Extended follow‐up of pediatric liver transplantation patients receiving once daily calcineurin inhibitor
Author(s) -
Lin Henry C.,
MelinAldana Hector,
Mohammad Saeed,
Ekong Udeme D.,
Alonso Estella M.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
pediatric transplantation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.457
H-Index - 69
eISSN - 1399-3046
pISSN - 1397-3142
DOI - 10.1111/petr.12557
Subject(s) - medicine , liver transplantation , calcineurin , fibrosis , bilirubin , single center , gastroenterology , creatinine , retrospective cohort study , liver biopsy , liver function tests , transplantation , biopsy , surgery
We describe longitudinal results in a cohort of pediatric liver transplant patients successfully minimized to once daily CNI monotherapy for longer than five yr and assess changes in liver biochemistries and liver histology. A retrospective chart review of all pediatric liver transplant patients at a single center was performed. Biopsies and serum biochemistries ( AST , ALT , total bilirubin, direct bilirubin, INR , creatinine) are reported at time points: PM, five‐yr, seven‐yr, and nine‐yr post‐minimization. Biopsies were assessed for inflammation and fibrosis using Ishak and Batts grading systems. Successful minimization to daily CNI monotherapy was defined as normal liver enzymes with no episodes of rejection. Thirty‐three patients have successfully remained on once daily CNI for >5 yr, and 19/33 of these patients have serial liver biopsies available for review. We report on the clinical and histological findings of these 19 patients. All 19 patients continue to have normal liver biochemistries. On post‐minimization biopsies, fibrosis progressed by ≥2 stages in one patient (5.3%) despite normal liver biochemistries. Carefully selected patients can tolerate minimization to once daily CNI monotherapy as few have progression of fibrosis.