Long-term survival and causes of late graft loss after adult-to-adult living donor liver transplantation

The vast amount of experience with deceased donor liver transplantation allows for the evaluation of the causes underlying late graft loss and the adoption of strategies for its prevention. In contrast, the long-term results or causes of late graft loss after adult-to-adult living donor liver transplantation have not been fully examined. Thus, we analyzed 176 adult recipients who survived at least 1 year after living donor liver transplantation. The median follow-up period was 33 months. Of the 176 recipients, eight died and three others underwent retransplantation. The most common cause of graft loss in our series was cholangitis (n = 4), which might be due partly to technical problems. The 3-year and 5-year patient survival rates of the subjects were 95% and 90%, respectively. Long-term survival after living donor liver transplantation was satisfactory in our series. Further improvement of surgical techniques for biliary reconstruction may reduce late graft loss.