First successful case of simultaneous liver and kidney transplantation for patients with chronic liver and renal failure in Japan

Abstract

Establishment of a preferential liver allocation rule for simultaneous liver and kidney transplantation (SLK) and revisions of laws regarding organ transplants from deceased donors have paved the way for SLK in Japan. Very few cases of SLK have been attempted in Japan, and no such recipients have survived for longer than 40 days. The present report describes a case of a 50-year-old woman who had undergone living donor liver transplantation at the age of 38 years for management of post-partum liver failure. After the first transplant surgery, she developed hepatic vein stenosis and severe hypersplenism requiring splenectomy. She was then initiated on hemodialysis (HD) due to the deterioration of renal function after insertion of a hepatic vein stent. She was listed as a candidate for SLK in 2011 because she required frequent plasma exchange for hepatic coma. When her Model for End-stage Liver Disease score reached 46, the new liver was donated 46 days after registration. The reduced trisegment liver and the kidney grafts were simultaneously transplanted under veno-venous bypass and intraoperative HD. The hepatic artery was reconstructed prior to portal reconstruction in order to shorten anhepatic time. Although she developed subcapsular bleeding caused by hepatic contusion on the next day, subsequent hemostasis was obtained by transcatheter embolization. Thereafter, her recovery was uneventful, except for mild rejection and renal tubular acidosis of the kidney graft. This case highlights the need to establish Japanese criteria for SLK.

Keywords: deceased donor; kidney transplantation; liver transplantation; living donor; retransplantation; simultaneous.