To understand factors contributing to liver graft loss and patient death, we queried a national database designed to follow pediatric patients transplanted between 1987 and 1995 till adulthood. A comparison was made to a cohort transplanted between 2000 and 2014. The 5-, 10-, 15-, 20-, and 25-year patient survival and graft survival were 95.5%, 93.7%, 89.1%, 80.8%, and 73.1%, and 92.5%, 86.7%, 77.6%, 68.7%, and 62.2%, respectively. The twenty-year patient/graft survival was significantly worse in those transplanted between 5 and 17 years of age compared to those transplanted at <5 years of age (P < 0.001). For the modern era cohort, the 3-year patient survival was significantly lower in children transplanted at 16-17 years of age compared to those transplanted at <5 and 11-15 years of age (P ≤ 0.02). The 3-year graft survival was similarly lower in children transplanted at 16-17 years of age compared to those transplanted at <5, 5-10, and 11-15 years of age (P ≤ 0.001). Infection as a cause of death occurred either early or >15 years post-transplant. Chronic rejection remained the leading cause of graft loss in both cohorts and the commonest indication for retransplantation 20-25 years following primary transplant. Further research is required to identify modifiable factors contributing to development of chronic rejection.
Keywords: adolescents; chronic rejection; long-term results; pediatric liver transplantation.
© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.