Liver Transplantation

In the LIVERSLEEP study, investigators provide an overview of sleep disorders among patients in a liver transplantation (LT) pathway and a description of the criteria that can influence their sleep. This is a prospective longitudinal monocentric pilot study, generating hypotheses whose main objective is to describe the evolution of sleep quality in LT patients between pre-LT evaluation (PLTE) and 6 months post-LT. The secondary objective(s) are, before LT, 2 months and 6 months after, (1) to describe the level of anxiety in our patients, (2) to estimate the proportion of patients with impaired sleep quality, and (3) to describe the characteristics of our patients' sleep. This study will cover all adult patients on the LT waiting list at the Croix Rousse Hospital transplant center for the duration of the study. The duration of the inclusion period is 18 months. For each patient, the participation period will be 1 year on average (pre-LT measurement with an average waiting time of 6 months for LT, then measurements at TH+2 months and at TH+ 6 months). The total duration of the study will be 30 months, with a theoretical start of inclusions in the third quarter of 2026. Patients likely to participate in the study will be identified by the transplant nurse coordinatoir (TNC) within the digestive surgery and LT department of the Croix-Rousse hospital in Lyon. These are all the patients seen in hepatology consultation for the announcement of a LT project. Verification of the selection or contraindication criteria will be carried out by the principal investigator. During the consultation with the hepatologist and the TNC to announce the indication for LT, the study will be presented by the physician and then detailed by the TNC (objectives, steps, submission of upcoming questionnaires). After collecting the patient's non-opposition, clinical data will be collected (weight, height, BMI, sex, age, indication, MELD score, and presence or absence of hepatic encephalopathy). Given the emotional burden of this consultation, no questionnaire will be submitted to the patient at this stage. During the PLTE, then 2 months and 6 months after LT, 5 questionnaires will need to be completed by the patient (evaluation of sleep quality, anxiety, chronotype, physical activity, and pain). The TNC also collects the presence of psychotropic treatments that can influence sleep. A sleep schedule will be sent to the patient with their appointment for the PLTE and to be completed before hospitalization. This diary will be retrieved during the PLTE by the TNC. The presence or absence of psychotropic treatment will also be recorded. Two and six months after the LT, during follow-up visits in ambulatory care, conventional hospitals, or consultations, the patient responds again to these five questionnaires on a tablet, and the TNC also collects the presence of psychotropic treatment. Finally, at a distance from the LT (2 months later), the TNC collects the duration of the patient's transplant wait (from the date of activation on the waiting list to the LT date), the number of examinations performed during the PLTE, and post-LT complications (return to the operating room, stent-like endovascular treatment, drain adhered to the skin), the duration of the PLTE (date of the first PLTE examination on the date of activation on the waiting list) and the immediate post-LT hospitalization period (in days). A comparative analysis will be conducted between patients whose sleep quality is altered and those for whom it is maintained, with some factors of interest related to the patient's clinic and care pathway. The results will serve as a basis for the implementation of a relevant intervention aimed at treating and reducing sleep disorders in our patients.

Candidates for liver transplantation (CT) carry an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) due to underlying end-stage liver disease (ESHD) and immunosuppressive drugs used post-transplantation. CVD is a significant cause of long-term mortality after CT \[1\] \[2\]. Carotid Intima-Media Thickness (CIMT), a subclinical marker of atherosclerosis in the preoperative period, is a non-invasive method used to predict future CVD risk \[3\]. High CIMT indicates atherosclerosis and decreased arterial compliance. This can compromise organ perfusion and increase the risk of postoperative complications by increasing intraoperative blood pressure variability (BPV) during anesthesia induction and surgical stress in major surgeries such as CT. Studies investigating whether CIMT is an independent risk factor for perioperative hemodynamic instability in CT patients are limited. The aim of our study is to investigate the effect of CIMT values on intraoperative hemodynamic parameters. Secondary objectives are to determine the association of CIMT with the incidence of hypotension, vasopressor requirement, postoperative acute renal injury (ARI), and major cardiac adverse events (MCAE) after anesthesia induction. Theoretical Benefit: To make a significant contribution to the literature on the relationship between atherosclerosis and anesthesia management by determining whether CIMT is an independent predictor of perioperative hemodynamic instability in chemotherapy patients. Practical Benefit: To ensure the inclusion of CIMT measurement in the anesthesia risk assessment of chemotherapy candidates. Identifying patients with high CIMT will guide the implementation of more aggressive and targeted hemodynamic management strategies (e.g., more frequent invasive monitoring, proactive vasopressor use) during anesthesia induction and maintenance.

Transplantation for end-stage-liver disease (ESLD) in the context of Alcohol-Associated Liver Disease (AALD) has been increasing and represents the main indication for Liver Transplantation (LT) in the world. Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) is considered a brain chronic disease and requires a transdisciplinary approach that includes medical treatment and behavioral interventions. In the context of LT, alcohol relapse occurs in 26 % up to 50% of LT recipients. Among Liver transplant recipients for AALD, severe alcoholic relapse (defined as more than 3 alcoholic drinks per day for women and 4/day for men) after LT leads to impaired longterm survival due to recurrent alcoholic cirrhosis (RAC), cardiovascular events and de novo cancer. Several strategies have been developed to prevent alcohol relapse. After LT, integrating an addiction team into the LT program has been advocated by the latest guidelines in Europe and the United States, in order to bring the management of alcohol-use disorder (AUD) in transplantation units, through the association of psychosocial and pharmacological interventions previously reported in AALD. However, those guidelines were based on descriptive studies, and the effect of this management needs to be confirmed through a randomized, controlled, multicenter study, involving centers that still do not include an addiction team in their LT programs. This study will therefore assess prospectively and comparatively the impact of an addiction intervention after LT on return to alcohol use rates. We hypothesize that standardized targeted addiction monitoring of Liver Transplant recipients decreases the rates of alcohol relapse two years post-liver transplantation.

To verify whether albumin administration to achieve serum concentration above 30g/L (treated group) and its maintenance within plasmatic physiologic range (above 30 g/L) for five days diminishes rate of AKI at Day 7 after liver transplantation as compared to restrained albumin administration (when serum concentration is at 20 g/L or below (control)).

Hepatic reperfusion during liver transplantation remains a critical phase associated with significant hemodynamic and systemic disturbances, despite advances in surgical and anesthetic management. This phase is characterized by the release of acidotic, hypothermic, and hyperkalemic blood containing metabolic byproducts and inflammatory mediators resulting from ischemia-reperfusion injury. Clinically, reperfusion is associated with hemodynamic instability, including reductions in cardiac output and arterial pressure, as well as cardiac dysfunction and arrhythmias, often requiring pharmacologic support. These alterations may affect not only immediate intraoperative stability but also short- and long-term outcomes for both the patient and the graft. The abrupt restoration of blood flow to the transplanted liver leads to the systemic release of accumulated metabolites, reactive oxygen species, and inflammatory mediators, contributing to a systemic inflammatory response that may impact distant organs, including the kidneys and heart. Several revascularization strategies have been investigated to mitigate reperfusion-related injury: initial reperfusion via the portal vein, initial reperfusion through the hepatic artery, and simultaneous reperfusion through the portal vein and hepatic artery. A less frequently used and insufficiently studied strategy, not routinely or systematically implemented, involves diverting the initial reperfusion blood from the graft to the surgical field, followed by the restoration of hepatic blood outflow to the systemic circulation. This study hypothesizes that discarding the initial reperfusion blood via the infrahepatic vena cava will attenuate early hemodynamic, metabolic, and inflammatory changes and reduce postoperative complications compared to conventional reperfusion techniques.

The aim of the study is to evaluate the effect of preoperative oral carbohydrate loading on postoperative outcomes in liver transplant recipients. The results of this study may contribute to improving recovery after liver transplantation and shortening postoperative hospital stay in these patients. Participants will be randomly assigned to either the study group or the control group. Patients assigned to the study group will receive 400 mL of a carbohydrate beverage (Nutricia preOp®), to be consumed up to 2 hours before the anesthesia induction. Patients assigned to the control group will receive 400 mL of a placebo administered in an identical manner as in the study group. Participants will not be informed which group they have been assigned to. In the postoperative period, routine laboratory and imaging tests will be performed, and their results will be used to assess the effects of the intervention. Follow-up of the patient's clinical course is planned for up to 30 days after surgery. The schedule of follow-up visits will not differ from standard clinical practice.

Machine perfusion (MP) has become routine clinical practice in liver transplantation. However, as the field has matured, direct randomized comparisons between distinct MP modalities have become increasingly impractical, given that donor and graft characteristics often predetermine the optimal preservation strategy. Consequently, many studies continue to reference historical benchmark cohorts from the pre-perfusion era, or use risk scores developed before routine utilization of MP. These cohorts, while once valuable, fail to account for the paradigm shift that MP has introduced. Likewise, commonly used donor- and recipient-based risk scores were developed prior to the adoption of MP. While these scores aim to assess survival or morbidity after transplantation, none of them guide decisions about MP use or the most suitable perfusion protocol. As MP technologies continue to evolve there is a critical need for an updated reference framework that accurately reflects current clinical practice and captures the best achievable outcomes across all MP modalities.

Liver transplantation (LT) is the standard treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and end-stage liver disease, with excellent long-term outcomes despite the increasing use of extended criteria donors due to organ shortage. As traditional evaluation criteria have become insufficient, new indicators such as Arterial and Biliary Complication-Free Survival (ABCFS) have been developed to better assess post-transplant outcomes. Primary objective: To assess, in a large-scale study, whether the procurement technique influences liver transplantation outcomes in terms of arterial and biliary complication-free survival.

Hemodynamic instability is a common and serious condition in patients undergoing liver transplantation and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality if not promptly recognized and treated. It results from multiple interacting factors, including blood loss, changes in vascular tone, cardiac dysfunction, and complications related to the surgical procedure. Traditional monitoring strategies focus on global hemodynamic variables such as blood pressure and cardiac output. However, these parameters may not accurately reflect tissue perfusion or oxygen delivery at the microcirculatory level. As a result, patients may appear hemodynamically stable while still experiencing inadequate tissue oxygenation. This study aims to evaluate hemodynamic instability using an integrative physiological approach based on the interaction between different components of the cardiovascular system. Specifically, the study will assess four key interfaces: the relationship between the heart and the arterial system, the coherence between macrocirculation and microcirculation, the interaction between venous return and the right atrium, and the coupling between the right ventricle and the pulmonary circulation. The main objective is to identify distinct hemodynamic profiles in patients during the immediate postoperative period following liver transplantation. In addition, the study will evaluate the incidence of tissue hypoxia within the first 24 hours and its association with clinical outcomes, including 30-day evolution. This is a prospective observational study conducted in adult patients admitted to the intensive care unit after liver transplantation who develop hemodynamic instability requiring vasoactive support. During the first 24 hours, multimodal hemodynamic monitoring will be performed, including assessment of cardiac function, vascular tone, venous congestion, pulmonary circulation, and markers of tissue perfusion such as lactate levels and capillary refill time. By integrating these variables, patients will be classified into different hemodynamic profiles according to the predominant underlying mechanism. This approach aims to improve the understanding of cardiovascular dysfunction in this setting and to support more individualized and physiologically guided management strategies.

The goal of this clinical trial is to compare the effects of somatostatin and terlipressin on lowering portal pressure in patients with portal hypertension undergoing liver transplantation, and to investigate whether there are differences in clinical outcomes between the two drugs. The study will evaluate the decrease in portal pressure from baseline following drug administration at defined time points. It will also compare the effects of these drugs on hemodynamics, bleeding, and transfusion requirements. After baseline intraoperative direct portal pressure measurement, a bolus dose of the study drug will be administered, followed by continuous intravenous infusion intraoperatively and for 24 hours postoperatively. Direct portal pressure will be measured again 5 minutes after the bolus dose, after the portal vein anastomosis, after the hepatic artery anastomosis, and, if performed after splenic artery ligation. Hemodynamic parameters will be recorded, and the drugs will be compared in terms of their intraoperative hemodynamic effects. As elevated portal pressure is associated with increased bleeding, intraoperative blood loss and transfusion needs will also be assessed between the groups. Patients will be followed for 7 days postoperatively for clinical and laboratory outcomes.

This study aims to evaluate the effects of a diet with even protein distribution plus exercise (Group A) versus a diet with skewed protein distribution plus exercise (Group B) versus standard dietary and physical activity advice (Group C) on nutritional status, body composition and functional status in patients awaiting liver transplantation.

The purpose of this clinical study is to confirm the safety and effectiveness of dual hypothermic oxygenated perfusion (DHOPE) using the Liver Assist to preserve deceased donor livers for transplantation.

The goal of this study is to find out if quality assessment by normothermic machine perfusion can be used to safely increase the number of usable donor livers, helping more people get transplants faster and with better results. This process keeps a donated liver working outside the body before transplantation, allowing surgeons to assess whether livers previously considered unsuitable can still be used. The main questions this study aims to answer are: * Does this method help patients get a transplant sooner? * Can this method make more livers available for transplant? * Does it improve survival and health after transplant? Participants in this study must be on the waiting list for a liver transplant with a ReMELD-Na-Score of 21 or less (equivalent to MELD ≤25) and must not qualify for certain special exceptions. Participants will be randomly placed into one of two groups: * Experimental group: In addition to regular organ offers, these participants may receive a liver that was initially not considered for transplantation but meets quality standards after at least four hours of machine perfusion. * Control group: These participants will receive a liver through the usual transplant process. The main measure of success is how quickly participants receive a transplant. Researchers will also look at other important factors, such as survival rates, quality of life, hospital stay, and complications after transplant. This study may help improve liver transplantation by making better use of available donor livers, reducing waiting times, and improving patient outcomes.

World Health Organization considers non-adherence has a strong negative impact on the health of patients with chronic diseases. In transplantation, adherence to immunosuppressive drug regimens associates with late rejection and graft loss making it a critical determinant of patient outcome. The prevalence of non-adherence in transplant patients, including liver transplant patients, can be as high as 40%. Among others, life-long intake and complexity of immunosuppressive regimen make patients prone to non-adherence. For instance, non-adherence is more prevalent among patients with higher numbers of immunosuppressive drugs. One of the most commonly cited causes of non-adherence is forgetfulness and disruptions in routine, with the evening dose of twice daily regimens being the most likely to be affected6. Besides non-adherence, the constraints generated in everyday life by immunosuppression (including timely and regular drug intake) and the complexity of the immunosuppressive regimens represent a burden for the patients and are probably associated with a health-related quality of life deterioration. Therefore, long-term adherence and quality of life after liver transplantation might be improved by using a well-tolerated and easy-to-handle immunosuppressive regimen. The immunosuppressive regimen after liver transplantation is in most cases based on different combinations of tacrolimus, mycophenolate mofetil and corticosteroids. While corticosteroids are administered once daily, tacrolimus can be administered either twice-daily (BID) as an immediate-release, or once-daily (QD) as an extended-release formulation. Among once-daily tacrolimus formulations, LCP-tacrolimus (ENVARSUS XR®) is approved for the prevention of transplant rejection in adult liver allograft recipients. It has demonstrated similar outcomes compared to immediate-release tacrolimus BID, in both kidney and liver transplantation. Mycophenolate has only been approved for BID administration, preventing from taking all immunosuppressive drugs once daily. Yet, single daily dosing would probably contribute to better adherence and quality of life in patients receiving a life-long treatment. Although the half-life of mycophenolic acid (MPA), the active moiety of mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) is compatible with once-daily administration, no published randomized clinical study has ever evaluated the efficacy and safety of MMF administered QD. The narrow therapeutic index and wide pharmacokinetic variability of tacrolimus and mycophenolate justify individual dose adjustment by means of therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM), in order to minimize the risk of acute rejection and the occurrence of adverse events. For tacrolimus, TDM is generally based on the trough concentration (C0) and sometimes on the area under the concentration-time curve (AUC), while for mycophenolate it should be based on the AUC of MPA. However, the dose adjustment of MMF in liver transplant patients is most of the time performed a posteriori, based on clinical signs of inefficacy of toxicity. Limited sampling strategies with maximum a posteriori Bayesian estimation have been developed by our team for both molecules in adult liver transplant patients to estimate their AUC, which is considered the best marker of exposure for both. Therefore, tacrolimus AUC0-24h can be estimated by Bayesian estimation using samples collected before administration (C0), 8 (C8h) and 12 (C12h) hours after the administration of ENVARSUS XR®, or 1 and 3 hours after the administration of PROGRAF® and ADVAGRAF®. For mycophenolate, the MPA AUC can be estimated using samples collected 20 min, 1 and 3 hours after MMF administration, by Bayesian estimation. Even if limited to 2 or 3 blood samples, tacrolimus TDM for ENVARSUS® requires late sampling (12h post-dose). To overcome the necessity of a longer hospital stay, microsampling devices (MSD) such as the Volumetric absorptive microsampling (VAMS®) device (Mitra®) can be used by the patients to take samples themselves, at home. Moreover, they are less invasive than venipuncture and collect low but accurate volumes of blood for analysis. In this context, we propose a randomized controlled non-inferiority study to demonstrate that in liver transplant recipients, an immunosuppressive strategy based on single daily doses of LCP-tacrolimus (ENVARSUS XR®) and mycophenolate mofetil (CELLCEPT®) started at M6 post-transplantation is not inferior to XR-tacrolimus (ADVAGRAF®) and MMF administered BID, in terms of incidence of treatment failure (see below) at the end of the first year after transplantation, and to obtain adherence, quality of life and safety data. In order to compare solely MMF QD to MMF BID, patients on ENVARSUS XR® and MMF QD will be compared to a third group of patients receiving ENVARSUS XR® and MMF BID. A direct comparison of efficacy and safety, quality of life, adherence and exposure indices will be performed between ENVARSUS XR® and ADVAGRAF®.

This clinical trial is being conducted to help liver transplant recipients safely discontinue toxic immunosuppressive drugs years after surgery. Lifelong use of these drugs is the current standard, but they come with life-threatening side effects. UCLA has pioneered this "Delayed Tolerance" approach, achieving success in numerous kidney recipients now living drug-free. The process uses a conditioning regimen followed by donor stem cell infusion to retrain the immune system to accept the liver as "self."

This study will evaluate frailty, nutrition, sarcopenia, and psychological health in people waiting for a liver transplant. The purpose is to understand how these factors affect outcomes before and after transplantation. By identifying patients at higher risk early, the study aims to support the development of better care programs in the future. Participants will complete simple tests of physical strength, walking speed, and daily activity levels. Their nutrition and psychological well-being will also be assessed. The study will then look at how these results relate to medical scores used in liver disease and to outcomes after transplant, such as hospital stay, complications, or survival. Adults aged 18-65 years who are on the liver transplant waiting list and can understand Turkish are eligible to join.

Liver transplantation is defined as a surgical procedure in which a liver with tissue damage and inability to perform its functions is replaced, in whole or in part, with a healthy liver obtained from a living or deceased donor. Post-transplantation treatment includes medical treatment, physiotherapy, and rehabilitation. Physiotherapy and rehabilitation, an important component of liver transplantation management, consists of three phases: preoperative, early postoperative, and late postoperative. Telerehabilitation is currently defined as the control or monitoring of rehabilitation remotely using telecommunication-related technologies. Studies on telerehabilitation in liver transplant patients are insufficient in the literature. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of a telerehabilitation-based exercise program applied to liver transplant patients on exercise capacity, respiratory muscle strength, peripheral muscle strength, fatigue level and quality of life.

The purpose of this study is to study the effects of a structured Mediterranean dietary program on prevention of weight gain, promotion of heart health and prevention of fatty liver disease after liver transplantation.

This is a single-center, retrospective cohort study aiming to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a combined treatment strategy for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who are beyond the UCSF criteria but intended for liver transplantation. The primary objective is to assess the outcomes of these "intention-to-treat" patients who received locoregional therapies (LRT, such as TACE or radiotherapy) in combination with systemic therapy (anti-VEGF/Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors and Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors) as a "conversion therapy" prior to potential transplantation. This approach is distinct from traditional bridging or down-staging therapies by incorporating more aggressive systemic regimens. The study plans to enroll 300 subjects. The exposure group will include approximately 100 patients beyond UCSF criteria who received the combined conversion therapy between January 2020 and December 2024. A control group of about 200 patients who met the UCSF criteria and were directly listed for transplantation in the same period will be used for comparison. Data will be collected from medical records and the China Liver Transplant Registry (CLTR), with follow-up until December 2025. Primary outcome measures include: Objective Response Rate (ORR) of conversion therapy per mRECIST. Rate of successful down-staging to meet UCSF criteria. 1-, 2-, and 3-year overall survival (OS) rates of the intention-to-treat population. Actual liver transplantation rate after successful conversion. Post-transplant 1-, 2-, and 3-year OS and recurrence-free survival (RFS) rates. Secondary outcomes involve: Safety profiles of both conversion therapy and subsequent transplantation. Analysis of factors influencing conversion success and treatment efficacy. Determination of an optimal washout period for Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors prior to transplantation. The study seeks to provide high-level evidence for optimizing pre-transplant conversion strategies for advanced HCC patients currently outside standard transplant criteria.

Liver transplantation is often performed to treat liver cancer, or hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), in patients with impaired liver function due to cirrhosis. A shortcoming, however, is tumor recurrence after transplantation. Approximately 15 % of patients receiving livers develop recurrence and this depends on the quality of the liver received. Machine liver perfusion, for example, hypothermic oxygenated liver perfusion (HOPE), which means that the organ is perfused with an oxygen-rich fluid in a cold environment before transplantation, is a novel method to improve the quality of livers before implantation. The standard of care is cold storage without perfusion. The objective of this study is to compare the survival after tumor recurrence of patients after liver transplantation for HCC between perfused and not perfused livers. This study's hypothesis is that survival without tumor recurrence is improved when the liver is perfused before implantation. The study involves transplant centers worldwide, and adults with HCC waiting for liver transplantation are included. 220 Patients will be recruited within 12 months and then observed for at least 2 years after transplantation. To provide the most valid results, the patients will be randomly allocated to either the organ perfusion group or a control group with standard-of-care cold storage of the organ.

The objective of this observational study is to systematically compare the efficacy and patient prognosis between auxiliary liver transplantation and living donor liver transplantation, and to explore the postoperative recovery, survival rate, rejection, postoperative complications, and long-term prognosis of patients undergoing auxiliary liver transplantation.

We propose a multi-center randomized trial to test the primary hypothesis that tranexamic acid is superior to placebo on blood loss in adult orthotopic liver transplantation within the initial 24 hours and that tranexamic acid is non-inferior to placebo for a composite of thrombotic events within the initial 7 postoperative days. Secondarily, we will determine whether tranexamic acid is superior to placebo on total postoperative drainage volume and blood product transfusion within the initial 3 postoperative days. We propose to randomize patients to 2.0 g of tranexamic acid intravenously at the start of surgery or a comparable volume of 0.9% normal saline placebo. Because demonstrating safety will require more patients, our sample size is based on safety. Randomizing 1546 patients will provide 80% power for detecting a non-inferiority margin of 4% with a baseline incidence of 10% for composite thrombotic events within the initial 7 postoperative days.

Investigators will conduct this single-center, prospective cohort study to explore the prevalence and risk factors of renal function progression in post-liver transplantation patients with renal impairment after renal biospy and to understand the the pathology of kidney disease in post-liver transplantation patients with renal impairment.

Liver transplantation carries a substantial risk of bleeding, making precise haemostasis control essential, although assessing coagulation remains challenging. Quantra, a bedside viscoelastic testing device using sonorheometric methods, offers an innovative approach to guiding haemostatic management during surgery. The study aims to determine whether a Quantra-guided transfusion can reduce transfusion and bleeding during liver transplantation when compared to a conventional transfusion approach.

Liver transplantation is a life-saving procedure for patients with end-stage liver disease, and postoperative pain management is critical for optimizing donor recovery and overall outcomes. Poorly controlled pain following donor hepatectomy may reduce quality of life, delay mobilization, and contribute to the development of chronic pain syndromes. Regional anesthesia techniques, such as intrathecal morphine and erector spinae plane block, have been utilized to enhance postoperative analgesia and reduce perioperative opioid requirements, potentially minimizing opioid-related adverse effects. In this study, we aimed to compare the postoperative analgesic efficacy of intrathecal morphine and Bi-level erector spinae plane block in living liver donors.