Objective: To evaluate the outcome of emergency adult right lobe living donor liver transplantation for fulminant hepatitis.
Methods: Nine cases of adult right lobe living donor liver transplantation were performed from September 2002 to August 2005, the clinical and follow-up data was analyzed.
Results: According to Child Pugh Turcotte (CPT) classification, 9 patients were classified as grade C before transplant. The Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) scores of these patients were 26.7 +/- 8.8. The principal pre-transplant complications included hepatic encephalopathy (5 cases), electrolyte disturbance (3 cases), renal failure (2 cases), gastrointestinal bleeding (1 case). The operations in donors and recipients were all successful. The post-transplant complications induced pulmonary infection in 2 patients, acute renal failure in 3 and transplantation related encephalopathy in 1. There were no primary graft non-function and no blood vessel and bile tract complications occurred. One-year survival rate was 55.6%. No serious complication or death found in donors.
Conclusions: Emergency adult to adult living donor liver transplantation is an effective treatment for fulminant hepatitis but the safety of the donors should be assessed strictly preoperation.