Profile of Liver Transplant Recipient in a Tertiary Hospital in Northern Spain

Abstract

Spain has the highest rates of liver transplantation (LT) per million inhabitants in the world, with the profiles of both donors and recipients in Asturias, a region in northern Spain, being different from the rest of the country. The main goal of this study was to carry out a preliminary analysis of the characteristics of LT recipients in Asturias, as well as of the basic characteristics of surgery and the postoperative period, and to discuss whether the results obtained in this study were comparable to what is described in the literature. This was a retrospective, descriptive, cross-sectional study, analyzing the LT carried out in a reference center of Asturias between 2002 and 2017. Relative and absolute frequency distributions for qualitative variables are provided, as are position and dispersion measures for quantitative variables. Using the multivariate Cox regression model, the prognostic factors associated with overall survival were determined. A total of 533 LTs were analyzed; 431 were men and 102 were women. The mean age was 55.1 years, concentrated between 40 and 69 years for both genders. LT was performed for chronic parenchymal liver disease (mostly of alcoholic etiology) and the recipients underwent surgery in an advanced stage of liver disease. Of these recipients, 8.1% (43 patients) were retransplantions, 65.1% in the first year due to primary graft dysfunction and complete hepatic artery thrombosis. Most patients had presented a grade II of Clavien−Dindo as the most frequent complication. Biliary complications were found in 12.3% of patients, with the main cause of death in the first 30 days being instability in the 24 h after LT. The median survival of the group was 13 years, with a 5-year survival probability of 79.3% and a 10-year survival probability of 61.9%. In view of the analyzed series, it can be concluded that the most frequent recipient profile was a male patient (mean age 55 years), with a significant alcohol habit, who was overweight, with chronic parenchymal liver disease of alcoholic or viral etiology, and who had reached the Child C stage before LT. This study could lay the foundations for future studies, to complete this analysis with the characteristics of LT surgery, its postoperative period, and the follow-up after discharge, to obtain a broader view of LT recipients in this region.