Graft rinse prior to reperfusion in liver transplantation: literature review and online survey within the Eurotransplant community

Graft rinse prior reperfusion in liver transplantation (LT) is believed to reduce the incidence of postreperfusion syndrome and improve clinical outcome. A MEDLINE search was performed to obtain a comprehensive review of the published literature dealing with graft rinse in LT. Moreover, all thirty-four LT centers in the Eurotransplant (ET) region were invited to participate in an online survey to whether or not graft rinse is performed and whether further research in the field is needed. Seventeen reports have been found to investigate graft rinse protocols in 1894 LT recipients. Eighteen of the thirty centers that participated in the online survey performed graft rinse prior reperfusion in…

Destruction of Kupffer’s cells increases total liver blood flow and decreases ischemia reperfusion injury in pigs

Reperfusion of liver graft during transplantation: techniques used in transplant centres within Eurotransplant and meta-analysis of the literature

Abstract: It remains unclear which liver graft reperfusion technique leads to the best outcome following transplantation. An online survey was sent to all transplant centres (n=37) within Eurotransplant (ET) to collect information on their technique used for reperfusion of liver grafts. Furthermore, a systematic review of all literature was performed and a meta-analysis was conducted based on patients' mortality, number of retransplantations and incidence of biliary complications, depending on the technique used. Of the 28 evaluated centres, 11 (39%) reported performing simultaneous reperfusion (SIMR), 13 (46%) perform initial portal vein reperfusion (IPR), 1 (4%) performs an initial hepati…

Oligometastases of Gastrointestinal Cancer Origin

The efficacy of N-acetylcysteine as a hepatoprotective agent in liver transplantation

One of the most common complications after liver transplantation is primary graft dysfunction which results from severe deterioration of the microcirculation. The data obtained from our experimental studies indicate that N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is able to reduce the severity of ischemia/reperfusion injury and improves postoperative graft function after liver transplantation in rats. The aim of this pilot study was to evaluate the efficacy of NAC as a hepatoprotective agent under clinical conditions. A group of 30 liver transplanted patients were treated with NAC, and 30 patients (control group) were treated with a 5 % solution of glucose only. In the NAC group we observed a distinct reductio…