The advantage of early liver transplantation for Wilson’s disease using living donors

AIM: The aim of the study was to investigate the surgical timing, results, and advantages of living-donor liver transplantation in patients who underwent liver transplantation due to Wilson’s disease. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included Wilson’s patients who underwent liver transplantation and their live donors. Demographic information, preparations for surgery, liver transplant type, grafts used, results, and complications were examined. RESULTS: Between 2006 and 2020, 29 liver transplants were performed for 27 Wilson’s patients in our clinic. The study included 11 female and 16 male patients, with a mean age of 20.8 ±11.1 years and a mean body mass index of 20.5 ±3.2 kg/m(2). The mean MELD score of the adult patients was 16.5 ±6.3, and the mean PELD score of the paediatric patients was 19.6 ±17.2. Five patients underwent transplantation due to acute liver failure, and 22 patients with low MELD score had liver transplants due to chronic liver disease. Three patients who were referred with acute liver failure died in the perioperative period; no mortality was observed in the 22 elective patients. The overall survival was calculated as 88.8%. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival were 100% among elective early transplanted patients. CONCLUSIONS: Liver transplant is the most effective treatment for liver failure caused by Wilson’ s disease. When performed promptly, living-donor liver transplantation results in high survival rates in cases of both acute liver failure and chronic liver failure, and it no deterioration of the patient’s condition is evident.