OBJECTIVES

: The number of liver transplantation (LT) in Korea has increased for decades and the appropriate management after LT is required. This study analyzed the incidences of post-LT outcomes among patients who received LT in Korea in the real-world setting.

METHODS

: Data from liver cohort in the Korean Organ Transplantation Registry (KOTRY) with the period of May1^st, 2014 to Dec31^st, 2017 was utilized for this study. Patients with recorded evidence of LT based on the medical chart review was included, otherwise patients were excluded if they had lost any records within 6 months post-LT, or they were without any records of immunosuppressive therapy within 6 months post-LT. For donor type, both living donor and deceased donor were included.

RESULTS

: In total, 2,648 LT recipients were included (2,563 adults, 85 pediatrics) in 18 centers across South Korea. The top two reasons for LT were hepatitis B (56%) and alcoholic disease (24%). In all post-LT outcomes, the renal dysfunction was the most common outcome and its incidence rate turned out as 39%, followed by infections (32%) and complications (23%). In multivariate analysis, diabetes mellitus (HR 1.223; 95% CI 1.058−1.41; p=0.0059), hypertension (HR 1.239; 95% CI 1.051−1.455; p=0.0098), MELD score ≥35 (HR 1.779; 95% CI 1.444−2.181; p<0.0001), and CTP score 7−9 (HR 1.379; 95% CI 1.139−1.671; p<0.0041) were observed as risk factors for occurrence of renal dysfunction in adult patients.

CONCLUSIONS

: Even after successful LT, the burden of patients due to post-LT outcomes were considerable and especially renal dysfunction was the most common outcome. An appropriate management after transplantation is necessary in these patients to avoid any inevitable result.