Pediatric acute liver failure (PALF) is a common cause of liver transplantation (LT) but showed poor post-LT outcomes. We reviewed 36 PALF patients and 120 BA patients who underwent LT in our institution. The cause of PALF was unknown in 66.7%. PALF patients were older (6.2 vs. 2.9 years) with higher PELD scores (31.5 vs. 24.4) and shorter waitlist time (15.7 vs. 256.1 days) (p < 0.01). PALF patients showed higher rates of post-transplant renal replacement therapy (RRT) (13.9% vs. 4.2%) and hepatic artery complications (13.9% vs. 0.8%), while portal vein complications rates were lower (0% vs. 10.8%), (p < 0.05). Although PALF patients showed lower 5-year survival rates (77.8% vs. 95.0 %, p < 0.01), the 5-year survival rates of patients who lived beyond the first year were comparable (96.6% vs. 98.3%, p = 0.516). The most common cause of deaths within one year was graft failure (75.0%) in PALF patients, but infection (67.7%) in BA patients. In multivariate analysis, lower body weight, hepatic artery complications and post-transplant RRT were associated with worse survival outcomes (p < 0.05). In conclusion, physicians should be alert to monitor the immediate postoperative graft dysfunction and hepatic artery complications and patients on post-transplant RRT in order to improve survival outcomes in PALF patients.
Keywords: acute liver failure; hepatic artery; pediatric liver transplantation; rejection; renal replacement therapy.