Liver-Related and Cardiovascular Outcome of Patients Transplanted for Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: A European Single-Center Study

Jakob Van Herck; Jef Verbeek; Hannah van Malenstein; Wim Laleman; David Cassiman; Chris Verslype; Schalk van der Merwe; Ina Jochmans; Mauricio Sainz-Barriga; Diethard Monbaliu; Jacques Pirenne; Frederik Nevens

doi:10.1016/j.transproceed.2021.02.025

Liver-Related and Cardiovascular Outcome of Patients Transplanted for Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: A European Single-Center Study

Transplant Proc. 2021 Jun;53(5):1674-1681. doi: 10.1016/j.transproceed.2021.02.025. Epub 2021 May 18.

Affiliations

¹ Department of General Internal Medicine, University Hospital KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
² Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University Hospital KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
³ Abdominal Transplantation, Transplantation Research Group, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Abdominal Transplantation Surgery, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
⁴ Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University Hospital KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. Electronic address: frederik.nevens@uzleuven.be.

PMID: 34016462
DOI: 10.1016/j.transproceed.2021.02.025

Abstract

Background: The increasing rate of liver transplantation (LT) for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) raises concerns on cardiovascular morbidity and mortality after LT in these patients.

Methods: We collected variables regarding the presence of metabolic risk factors, NAFLD recurrence, cardiovascular morbidity, and overall survival at time of listing and after LT of 112 patients with NAFLD and a control group of 120 patients with hepatitis C (HCV).

Results: Metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular morbidity component rates (24.1% vs 12.5%) at the time of LT listing were higher in patients with NAFLD compared with patients with HCV (for all, P < .0390). Median follow-up after LT was 5.6 years in patients with NAFLD vs 13.5 years in patients with HCV (P = .0009). There was no difference in 6-weeks postoperative mortality (1.7% vs 2.5%) (P =1.0000). Metabolic syndrome components after LT were more frequent in patients with NAFLD than in patients with HCV (for all, P < .0008). The incidence of NAFLD 5 years after LT was higher in patients transplanted for NAFLD compared with HCV (43.5% vs 4.2%) (P < .0001). Patients with recurrent NAFLD more often had myocardial infarction compared with those without recurrence (8.3% vs 0%) (P = .0313). Five years after LT, cardiovascular morbidity was more frequent in the NAFLD group than in the HCV group (12.8% vs 9.3%) (P = .0256), whereas no difference in overall survival was observed.

Conclusion: LT for NAFLD is associated with satisfactory 5-year outcomes; however, our data underscore the need for close monitoring and aggressive management of cardiovascular risk factors in these patients.

MeSH terms

Aged
Case-Control Studies
Disease-Free Survival
End Stage Liver Disease / complications
End Stage Liver Disease / mortality
End Stage Liver Disease / surgery
Female
Hepatitis C / complications
Humans
Incidence
Liver Transplantation* / adverse effects
Male
Metabolic Syndrome / diagnosis*
Metabolic Syndrome / epidemiology
Metabolic Syndrome / etiology
Middle Aged
Myocardial Infarction / diagnosis*
Myocardial Infarction / epidemiology
Myocardial Infarction / etiology
Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease / complications
Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease / pathology*
Recurrence
Risk Factors
Survival Rate
Treatment Outcome