Study of Immune Tolerance Cases in Adult Living Donor Liver Transplantation

Background Complete immune tolerance is the chief goal in organ transplantation. This study aimed to evaluate patients who successfully withdrew from immunosuppressive (IS) agents after living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). Materials and Methods A retrospective review of all adult LDLT from July 1999 to March 2012 was conducted. In patients who acquired immune tolerance after LDLT, their background and the course of surgical procedures were evaluated. Results Of a total of 101 adult LDLT patients, 8 patients were completely free of IS agents. Six of these patients (75%) were female, and the median age at the time of transplantation was 56 years (range, 31–66 years). The primary disease causing liver failure was type C liver cirrhosis (50%), fulminant hepatitis (25%), type B liver cirrhosis (12%), and alcoholic liver cirrhosis (12%). The median Child-Pugh score and MELD score were 13 points (range, 8–15 points) and 19 points (range, 10–18 points), respectively. The living related donor was the recipient's child (75%), sibling (12%), or parent (12%). ABO compatibility was identical in 62%, compatible in 25%, and incompatible in 12%. Conclusions In this study, we evaluated the adult patients who successfully withdrew from IS agents after LDLT. In most cases, it took more than 5 years to reduce IS agents. Because monitoring of the serum transaminase level is not adequate to detect chronic liver fibrosis in immune tolerance cases, further study is required to find appropriate protocols for reducing IS agent use after LDLT.