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Background: The pediatric end-stage liver disease (PELD) score is not a direct index that reflects the degree of hepatocellular injury. Beta-D glucan (BDG) in the portal vein blood is processed by the hepatic reticuloendothelial system. It is possible that the hepatic clearance of BDG may be used as a biological index to assess the liver function. In this study, the relationship between PELD score and hepatic clearance of BDG was made clear in order to study the efficacy of measurement of the serum BDG.Methods: This study including 21 patients with biliary atresia (BA) who underwent liver transplantation (LT) was performed. The BDG was measured in the preoperative peripheral vein blood and the portal vein blood at the time of LT.Results: The portal vein blood showed a significantly high level of BDG than the peripheral vein blood (p < 0.01). There was a significant negative correlation between the PELD score and the hepatic clearance of BDG in the 10 patients who were indicated for LT due to liver failure (p < 0.01).Conclusion: The serum BDG can be used as a biological index in place of liver metabolism and should be measured in BA patients as a non-invasive indicator of the degree of progression of liver failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS) is a progressive, deteriorating complication of end-stage liver disease (ESLD) that occurs in 13-47% of liver transplant candidates. Although LT is the only therapeutic option for HPS, it has a high morbidity and mortality, especially in patients with severe hypoxemia before transplantation, but the course of HPS after living donor liver transplantation (LDLT), especially for biliary atresia (BA) patients is not well established., Patients and Methods: The present study evaluated 122 patients who received an LDLT for BA and of these, 3 patients had HPS at the time of LDLT in a single-center series., Results: Two patients of the HPS patients them had biliary and/or vascular complications, but they recovered uneventfully with interventional treatment. None of the patients required supplemental oxygen and had no residual cardiopulmonary abnormalities at a follow-up of more than 24 months., Conclusion: Although a series of three patients is too small for definitive conclusion and further investigations must be conducted, pediatric LDLT can be a favorable therapeutic option for HPS.

Purpose: Bowel perforation after liver transplantation (LT) is a rare, but highly lethal complication with a poor prognosis. Here, we report the outcome of cases of bowel perforation after pediatric LT in our department., Patients and Methods: The study subjects were 148 patients who underwent pediatric living donor liver transplantation. The 114 with biliary atresia (BA) were divided into two groups: those with associated bowel perforation (Group A) and those without (Group B)., Results: Four patients in all (2.5%) suffered bowel perforation. Their original disease was BA and emergency surgery was performed in all cases, with a mortality rate of 50.0%. Comparison of Groups A and B revealed significant differences in the patient age, body weight, duration of surgery, cold ischemic time, and blood loss volume. The survival rates in Groups A and B were 50.0 and 99.1%, respectively (p < 0.01). Duration of surgery was an independent risk factor (p = 0.05)., Conclusion: Bowel perforation after LT is a potentially fatal complication. LT is a procedure that requires care and precision, and the possibility of bowel perforation should always be borne in mind during post-operative management, when the duration of surgery has been long.