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| Possible benefit of splenectomy in liver transplantation for autoimmune hepatitis |
| Yan-Tian Xu, De-Jie Liu, Fan-Ying Meng, Guang-Bing Li and Jun Liu |
Jinan, China
Author Affiliations: Department of Liver Transplantation and Hepatobiliary Surgery, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan 250021, China (Xu YT, Meng FY, Li GB and Liu J); Department of Anesthesiology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China (Liu DJ)
Corresponding Author: Jun Liu, MD, Department of Liver Transplantation and Hepatobiliary Surgery, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan 250021, China (Tel: 86-531-87925615; Email: xyt@mail.sdu.edu.cn) |
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Abstract Liver transplantation for autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is usually successful with excellent long-term outcomes, but primary disease may recur. The recurrence of AIH is a significant cause of graft loss. This study was to analyze the effect of splenectomy in preventing AIH relapse. The clinical courses of 12 patients who had transplantation for AIH were analyzed retrospectively. All patients were subjected to transplantation for end-stage liver disease caused by chronic AIH. Based on the duration of immunosuppressive treatment before liver transplantation, simultaneous splenectomy was performed in ten patients. Two patients underwent liver transplantation without splenectomy, one of them developed recurrent AIH and died from graft failure caused by AIH relapse. However, no episode of AIH recurrence was observed in patients who had undergone simultaneous splenectomy. Splenectomy might be an option to prevent AIH relapse in some patients with high risk factors.
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2014, Vol. 13 
