Outcomes After Living Donor Liver Transplantation in Pediatric Patients with Inherited Metabolic Diseases

BACKGROUND: There is no consensus about the long-term prognosis of pediatric patients with a variety of rare liver diseases but with inherited metabolic diseases (IMDs). We retrospectively reviewed the developmental outcomes of patients with IMDs undergoing living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). MATERIAL/METHODS: Between May 2001 and December 2020, of 314 pediatric patients who underwent LDLT, 44 (14%) had IMDs. The median age at LDLT was 3.0 years old (range 0–15.0 years). Associations between the post-transplant complications and graft survival rate in patients with IMDs and biliary atresia (BA) were calculated. We evaluated the safety of LDLT from heterozygous carrier donors, the prognosis of patients with IMDs who have metabolic defects expressed in other organs, and developmental outcomes of patients with IMDs. RESULTS: The 10-year graft survival rates in patients with IMDs and BA were 87% and 94%, respectively (P=0.041), and the causes of graft failure included pneumocystis pneumonia, acute lung failure, hemophagocytic syndrome, hepatic vein thrombosis, portal vein thrombosis, and sepsis. The rate of post-transplant cytomegalovirus viremia in patients with IMDs was higher than that of patients with BA (P=0.039). Of 39 patients with IMDs, 15 patients (38%) had severe motor and intellectual disabilities in 4 patients, intellectual developmental disorders including epilepsy in 2, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in 2. Of 28 patients with IMDs, 13 (46%) needed special education. CONCLUSIONS: The long-term outcomes of LDLT in patients with IMDs are good. However, further long-term social and educational follow-up regarding intellectual developmental disorders is needed.