The objective of this study was to determine the risk factors of postoperative acute renal failure (ARF) in orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). We reviewed 184 consecutive OLT. Postoperative ARF was defined as a persistent rise of 50% increase or more of the S-creatinine (S-Cr). The patients were classified as early postoperative ARF (E-ARF) (first week) and late postoperative ARF (L-ARF) (second to fourth week). Preoperative variables were age, sex, comorbidity, indication for OLT, Child-Pugh stage, united network for organ sharing status, analysis of the blood and urine, and donor's data. Intraoperative variables were systolic arterial pressure, mean arterial pressure, pulmonary capillary wedge pressure, cardiac index, and systemic vascular resistance index. Surgical technique, number of blood products transfused, need for adrenergic agonist drugs, and intraoperative complications were also important. Postoperative variables were duration of stay in the intensive care unit, time on mechanic ventilation, liver graft dysfunction, need for adrenergic agonist drugs, units of blood products infused, episodes of acute rejection, re-operations, and bacterial infections. Firstly we carried out a univariate statistical analysis, and secondly a logistic regression analysis. The risk factors for E-ARF were: pretransplant ARF (odds ratio (OR)=10.2, P=0.025), S-albumin (OR=0.3, P=0.001), duration of treatment with dopamine (OR=1.6, P=0.001), and grade II-IV dysfunction of the liver graft (OR=5.6, P=0.002). The risk factors for L-ARF were: re-operation (OR=3.1, P=0.013) and bacterial infection (OR=2.9, P=0.017). The development of E-ARF is influenced by preoperative factors such as ARF and hypoalbuminemia, as well as postoperative factors such as liver dysfunction and prolonged treatment with dopamine. The predicting factors of L-ARF differ from E-ARF and correspond to postoperative causes such as bacterial infection and surgical re-operation.

The livers from h-DAF transgenic pigs did not undergo hyperacute rejection after orthotopic xenotransplantation in baboons. When HAR is abrogated, the porcine liver maintains sufficient coagulation and protein levels in the baboon up to 8 days after OLT.

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Portal thrombosis is no longer considered a contraindication for transplantation because of the technical experience acquired in the field of liver transplantation and the development of various surgical techniques. All the same, the results obtained in portal thrombosis patients are at times suboptimal, and the surgical technique used (thromboendovenectomy or veno-venous bypass) is also controversial. Between May 1988 and December 2001, 455 liver transplants were performed, of which 32 (7%) presented portal vein thrombosis. Of these, eight belonged to the first 227 transplants (group I), and 24 to the other 228 (group II). Of the 32 cases with portal thrombosis, 20 (62%) were type Ib, seven (22%) type II/III and five (16%) type IV. Twenty-two were males (69%), with a mean age of 50 yr (range: 30-70 yr); the thrombosis in all cases developed over a cirrhotic liver: 15 cases of an ethanolic origin, 11 because of hepatitis C virus, two cases of autoimmune aetiology, one case of primary biliary cirrhosis, one case because of hepatitis B virus and two cases of a cryptogenic origin. Five cases had a history of surgical treatment for portal hypertension. The surgical method in all cases consisted of an eversion thromboendovenectomy (ETEV) under direct visual guidance, with occlusion of the portal flow using a Fogarty balloon. Once re-canalization was achieved, we performed local heparinization and end-to-end portal anastomosis. In no case was systemic post-operative heparinization performed. In the 32 cases in which thrombectomy was attempted it was achieved in 31 of them (96%), failing only in a case of type IV thrombosis, which was resolved by portal arterialization. Of the 31 successful cases, only one with type IV thrombosis re-thrombosed. The 5-yr survival rate of the patients in the series was 69%, with 10 patients dying, of whom only two from causes related to the thrombosis and the thrombosis treatment, both with type IV thrombosis. The ideal treatment for portal thrombosis during liver transplantation is controversial and depends on its extension and the experience of the surgeon. In our experience, ETEV resolves most thromboses (types I, II and III), but management of type IV, which occasionally can be treated with this technique, may require more complex procedures such as bypass, portal arterialization or cavoportal haemitransposition.

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