Liver transplant outcomes in Brno

Summary

The first liver transplant in the former Czechoslovakia took place in Brno on 2 February 1983; the patient concerned has lived for more than 30 years with a normally functioning liver and is one of the longest surviving patients after a liver transplant in Europe. The Cardiovascular and Transplantation Surgery Centre (CTSC) in Brno has experienced an increased development in the area of liver transplants since the mid‑ 1990s. At present, about 30 patients a year undergo a transplantation, with 451 liver transplants in total as of 31 December 2012. The primary indication concerns liver cirrhosis of various etiologies, with an increasing number of cases of cirrhosis resulting from hepatitis C. Urgent liver transplants (for acute liver failure or primary dysfunction of first liver graft) amount to 11% of cases. There were 18 re‑transplants performed as of 31 December 2012, with 50% five‑year survival. The primary graft dysfunction was present in 7 patients (i.e. 1.5%). The 1‑year survival rate of all patients after a liver transplant performed in CTSC is 92%, 5‑year survival rate is 80%, and 10‑year survival rate is 71%. Currently the parameters such as recipient’s age, donor’s age, and transplant waiting time has been statistically increasing; small recipient’s with a body weight below 70 kg especially have to wait for a significantly longer period of time (waiting median of 178 days). In CTSC Brno 14 combined simultaneous transplants (13 transplants of liver + kidney and one combined simultaneous transplants of liver + heart + kidney in 2005) have been performed as of 31 December 2012.

Key words:
Cardiovascular and Transplantation Surgery Centre in Brno –  liver transplant –  outcomes –  survival rate –  combined simultaneous transplant of liver + heart + kidney