Objective: To analyze the clinical and pathological features of patients with liver retransplantation.
Methods: The clinical and pathological data of 22 patients who had liver retransplantation at our center from October 2003 to June 2006 were retrospectively analyzed.
Results: Among the 523 patients who underwent liver transplantation, 22 (4.4%) had liver retransplantation. The causes of liver retransplantation were biliary tract complications (13/22), hepatic artery thrombosis (3/22), recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (5/22) and nonfunctional primary graft (1/22). The pathological changes in the livers of patients with biliary complications were intrahepatic cholestasis, primary bile duct hyperplasia and neutrophil infiltrations.
Conclusion: Biliary tract complications are the main cause of liver retransplantation. Differential diagnosis of various complications through early liver puncture biopsy and imaging examination will contribute to guide clinical treatment and may help in avoiding liver retransplantation.