Objective: To summarize the experience of human orthotopic liver transplantation (OLTx) in treatment of patients with end-stage hepatic disease and their perioperative management.
Methods: A retrospective analysis was made on OLTx performed in 77 patients from April 1993 to September 2001 in our department included combined liver-kidney transplantation (6 patients) and living related liver transplantation (2). Among them, 76 were adults and 1 was infant (67 males and 10 females). The donors included 75 non-heart beating donors and 2 living related donors. Veno-venous bypass was used only in 45 cases during the operation. immunosuppressive agents consisted of cyclosporine, cellcept, ALG corticosteroids and FK506.
Results: The one-year survival rates of grafts and recipients with benign hepatic disease were 75%. The recipients this year are surviving with good function of grafts.
Conclusion: Liver transplantation is the best therapeutic method for a large number of patients with end-stage hepatic disease in China.