Perioperative risk factors for neurological impairment in infants with acute liver failure following liver transplantation

Abstract

Background Neurological impairment is not rare in infants with acute liver failure (ALF). This study aimed to investigate the perioperative risk factors for neurological impairment following liver transplantation (LT) in infantile ALF. Methods Retrospective analysis was performed in infants who were younger than 1 year with ALF who subsequently underwent LT at our hospital between January 2005 and December 2016. Patients were considered to have neurological impairment if the Pediatric Cerebral Performance Category score was between 2 and 5 at the age of 6 years. A comparison between the groups of infants with and without neurological impairment was performed, and factors with p < .10 in the comparison were analyzed using univariate logistic regression analysis for neurological impairment. Results Twenty‐six infants survived until 6 years of age, and 31% (8/26) of them had neurological impairment. Patients with neurological impairment were significantly younger in age at ALF onset, had significantly higher pre‐LT bilirubin and prothrombin time/international normalized ratio, and stayed significantly longer in the intensive care unit than those without neurological impairment. Total bilirubin (odds ratio (OR) = 1.12, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.02–1.22, p = .012), indirect bilirubin (OR = 1.10, 95% CI 1.01–1.20, p = .025), direct bilirubin (OR = 1.22, 95% CI 1.01–1.47, p = .040), and age in month at ALF (OR = 0.76, 95% CI 0.58–0.999, p = .049) showed significant association with neurological impairment. Conclusions High pre‐LT peak bilirubin value and younger age at ALF onset can be perioperative risk factors for neurological impairment after LT in infantile ALF.