Search

Hungry bone syndrome is a rare but potentially lethal complication that is characterized by rapid, severe, long-lasting hypocalcemia and hypophosphatemia secondary to increased bone metabolism. We present a case of hungry bone syndrome after living donor liver transplant for biliary atresia. Following a failed Kasai procedure for biliary atresia, a 5-month-old boy underwent living donor liver transplant with reduced left lateral lobe from his father. Despite the oral administration of alfacalcidol, the patient exhibited severe craniotabes before the surgery. He developed severe hypocalcemia and hypophosphatemia im-mediately after liver transplant and required supplementation of calcium and phosphorus for 1 month thereafter. After serum levels of calcium and phosphate had normalized, there was a rapid increase in the serum bone-type alkaline phosphatase level, and the craniotabes subsided remarkably. To our knowledge, this is the world's first reported case of hungry bone syndrome after liver transplant for cholestatic cirrhosis. It underscores the importance of strict nutritional and electrolyte management in the perioperative period. A prompt diagnosis and correction of hungry bone syndrome are imperative to prevent the associated significant morbidity and mortality.

Portal vein complications (PVCs) after adult living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) are potentially lethal. We categorized PVCs by the time of onset (early versus late

Background Hepatic artery dissection after liver transplantation is an uncommon morbidity. The onset mechanism and management for this disorder remain unclear. The present report describes the cases of two patients with hepatic artery dissection after living-donor liver transplantation (LDLT) with simultaneous splenectomy and provides new insight into the onset mechanism of this disorder. Case presentation: Case 1 A 51-year-old man with liver cirrhosis caused by hepatitis B virus underwent LDLT with a right lobe graft and splenectomy simultaneously. The recipient’s right hepatic artery had partial dissection at the anastomosis site; therefore, his left hepatic artery was anastomosed. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) on postoperative day (POD) 27 showed dissection from his celiac artery to his left hepatic artery with bleeding in the false lumen. There was a risk of rupture of the false lumen; therefore, emergency interventional radiology and coil embolization of the false lumen were performed. The patient was doing well at 6 months after LDLT. Case 2 A 58-year-old woman with liver cirrhosis caused by primary biliary cholangitis underwent LDLT with a left lobe graft and splenectomy simultaneously. Her hepatic artery had a dissection that extended from her left hepatic artery to the proper hepatic artery. The gastroduodenal artery was anastomosed. Contrast-enhanced CT on POD 8 revealed dissection from the celiac artery to the common hepatic artery as well as a pseudoaneurysm at the celiac artery. We managed the patient with conservative treatment and performed daily follow-ups with Doppler ultrasonography examination and serial contrast-enhanced CT. At the time of writing this report, the patient was doing well at 34 months after LDLT. Conclusions Patients who have an intimal dissection at the anastomosis site and/or simultaneous splenectomy are at a higher risk of hepatic artery dissection. Most patients with asymptomatic hepatic artery dissections can be treated conservatively. Blood flow in the intrahepatic artery should be checked frequently using Doppler ultrasonography or contrast-enhanced CT soon after diagnosis.

Background Outcome of the liver transplantation (LT) is worse in hepatitis C virus (HCV)/human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-coinfected patients compared to patients infected with HCV alone. We report the world’s first case of living donor domino liver transplantation (LDDLT) using a familial amyloid polyneuropathy (FAP) liver in a coinfected recipient with HCV-related liver cirrhosis. Case presentation The recipient was a 43-year-old male with a CD4 cell count of 52/μL and undetectable HIV-RNA at the time of LT. He received a domino liver graft from a 41-year-old female with FAP. No acute cellular rejection or infection occurred after LT. HCV recurrence was confirmed histologically on the posttransplant day 34. Peginterferon/ribavirin therapy resulted in non-response; however, the patient achieved a sustained viral response with sofosbuvir (SOF)/ledipasvir (LDV). Currently, HCV and HIV testing are negative, and symptomatic de novo amyloidosis has not occurred. Conclusions LDDLT allows successful LT in HCV/HIV-coinfected patients; posttransplant HCV recurrence can be successfully treated with anti-viral therapy.

Posttransplant malignancy has become a significant cause of mortality. Data on the long-term outcomes of patients with pretransplant nonhepatic malignancy (PTM) after living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) are scarce, although the recipients of other organs with PTM have been reported to have a poor survival. Fifteen patients with PTM (4.4%) among the 342 adult recipients were identified in our LDLT programs. The outcomes of the patients with PTM after LDLT were compared to those of patients without PTM in terms of the all-cause mortality and cancer-specific mortality (defined as mortality related to malignancy expect for hepatocellular carcinoma, cholangiocarcinoma, or neuroendocrine tumor). The sites of PTM included the breast in six, stomach in two, and colon, lung, kidney, uterine, thyroid, larynx, and acute myelogenous leukemia in one each. The median interval from the PTM treatment to LDLT was 57 months (range, 2-298). The patients who received the curative treatment for PTM were selected as the recipients. No patients with PTM had recurrence during the follow-up period. The 1-, 5-, and 10-year patient survival rates were 100%, 92.9%, and 92.9% in the PTM group and 86.2%, 76.7%, and 68.5% in the non-PTM group, respectively (p = 0.142). Likewise, there was no significant difference between the two groups in the cancer-specific mortality. In conclusion, the patients with PTM had comparable outcomes with regard to mortality and cancer-specific mortality compared with those without PTM. This study showed that the patients with PTM can obtain an acceptable outcome after LDLT when carefully selected.