OBJECTIVETo investigate etiology, diagnosis, treatment and prophylaxis of liver abscess after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT).

METHODSOf 274 recipients of OLT from January 1993 to June 2003 in our transplant center, liver abscess were identified in 6 recipients (2.2%). The clinical presentation included fever, shiver, abdominal pain, jaundice, hepatic dysfunction, hypoalbuminemia, anemia, leukocytosis and neutrophilia. They were diagnosed mainly according to the clinical presentation and Ultrasonography or CT scan. The treatments included aspiration and drainage of abscess, removing bile sludge, antibiotics and supportive therapy.

RESULTSOf 6 patients, 2 were cured, 3 refused liver retransplantation and 2 died of serious systemic infection. The cure rate was 33.3%.

CONCLUSIONSthe etiology of liver abscess after OLT is complicated. The predisposing factors might be included hepatic artery thrombosis or stenosis, MP pulse therapy, cholangitis and biliary interventional therapy. Its prognosis seemed disappointing. Strong prophylactic measures should be recommended to reduce the liver abscess after OLT.

Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Liver Abscess ; diagnosis ; prevention & control ; therapy ; Liver Transplantation ; adverse effects ; Male ; Middle Aged

OBJECTIVETo investigate the common reasons, prophylaxis and treatment of operation-correlated complications in orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT).

METHODSSix hundred and forty-seven patients who underwent OLT from Apr 1993 to Dec 2004 were enrolled and analyzed retrospectively.

RESULTSThere were totally 39 cases (6.0%, 39/647) of vascular complications including 23 cases (3.6%) of hepatic artery complications, 6 cases (0.9%) of portal vein complications and 10 cases (1.5%) of vena cava complications. All vena cava complications were occurred in the patients of non-cavaplasty. The success rate of stent placement in treatment of hepatic artery stenosis was 2/2; for patients with hepatic artery thrombosis, the success rate of retransplantation was 4/6, that of revasculation and balloon dilation were 3/7 and 2/7 respectively. Stent placement can treat both anastomotic strictures and venae cavae stricture with the cure rate of 3/3 and 10/10 respectively. There were 34 cases of biliary complications, in which 27 cases were in patients with T tube, and 7 cases in without T tube. The incidence of biliary leak and biliary infection was significantly different between these two groups.

CONCLUSIONSThe modified piggyback (cavaplasty) technique could prevent the incidence of venae cavae complications effectively. Stent placement is an effective way to treat vascular stenosis. And retransplantation should be performed in early hepatic artery thrombosis. It is important to protect the blood supply of biliary system, and choledochostomy without T tube is the first choice for biliary reconstruction.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Biliary Tract Diseases ; etiology ; prevention & control ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Hepatic Artery ; Humans ; Infant ; Liver Transplantation ; adverse effects ; methods ; Middle Aged ; Portal Vein ; Postoperative Complications ; etiology ; prevention & control ; Retrospective Studies ; Vascular Diseases ; etiology ; prevention & control

OBJECTIVETo study the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of biliary complications after liver transplantation.

METHODSOne hundred and twenty-three recipients who had received liver transplantation between April 1993 and November 2001 were retrospectively reviewed.

RESULTSBiliary complication was diagnosed by cholangiography in 11 patients. Nine patients were cured, 1 patient was improved and 1 patient died. The incidence for biliary complications was 8.9% (11/123), and the mortality was 0.8% (1/123). The incidence of biliary complications due to T tube was 4.2% (5/119). The incidence of biliary complications due to hepatic artery was 1.6% (2/123). In recipients with WIT > 3 min and CIT > 8 h, the incidence of biliary complications elevated significantly.

CONCLUSIONSThe most important reason for biliary complications was preservative and ischemic injury. While repairing donor liver, damage to the blood supply system of donor liver bile ducts should be avoided. Meticulous T tube placement may reduce the incidence of biliary complications. Early cholangiography is helpful to diagnose biliary complications.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Biliary Tract Diseases ; diagnosis ; prevention & control ; therapy ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Humans ; Infant ; Liver Transplantation ; adverse effects ; Middle Aged ; Postoperative Complications ; diagnosis ; prevention & control ; therapy

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the influence of Shenfu Injection (SHF) on the quality of life of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) receiving chemotherapy.

METHODSA total of 133 patients with NSCLC receiving at least two cycles of chemotherapy with taxol plus cisplatin (TP)/vinorelbine plus cisplatin (NP) or gemcitabine plus cisplatin (GP) were randomized into SHF pre-treatment group (with SHF given only in the first cycle) and SHF post-treatment group (with SHF given only in the second cycle). The Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30 (QLQ-C30) and the Functional Living Index-Cancer (FLIC) were used to evaluate the quality of life of the patients after the treatments.

RESULTSBoth of the groups showed improved quality of life after the treatments (P<0.01), but the improvements were more obvious in SHF pre-treatment group (P<0.05). SHF showed favorable effects in relieving such adverse effects as fatigue, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea associated with the chemotherapy.

CONCLUSIONSHF can improve the quality of life in NSCLC patients receiving chemotherapies.

Adult ; Aged ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; drug therapy ; Cisplatin ; administration & dosage ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nausea ; prevention & control ; Paclitaxel ; administration & dosage ; Phytotherapy ; Quality of Life ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Vinblastine ; administration & dosage ; analogs & derivatives ; Vomiting ; prevention & control

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the role of orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) in treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and the selection of recipients.

METHODSOLT was performed in 60 patients with HCC at Organ Transplantation Centre of the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University between September 1993 and September 2002. Medical records were retrospectively analyzed with regard to the response to OLT and survival.

RESULTSOne-month, 1, 2, 3-year survival rate of 23 liver transplant performed from September 1993 to July 2002 were 73.9%, 60.9%, 43.5% and 29.0%, respectively. One-month, 1, 2-year survival rate of 37 liver transplant performed from August 2000 to September 2002 were 89.2%, 75.8% and 61.2%, respectively. One-month survival rate was significantly greater in the patients with a preoperative liver function of Child A or B than Child C (P < 0.05). One-month, 1, 2, 3-year survival rate of small HCC (single tumor 5 cm diameter, n = 41) were 84.2%, 76.6%, 65.6%, 65.6% and 82.9%, 63.1%, 46.7%, 37.4%, respectively. The median survival of large HCC was 18.0 months and mean survival of small HCC was 29.6 months, respectively. The recurrence rate of small HCC and large HCC were 15.8% and 27.7%, respectively. There was no significant difference between the cumulative survival of small HCC and large HCC. The quality of life of patients with long-term survival was good.

CONCLUSIONSHCC associated with cirrhosis can be effectively treated by OLT on condition that no extrahepatic spread and no vascular involvement. OLT is recommended for treatment of small HCC combined with liver cirrhosis, meanwhile, OLT performed in the partial large HCC still is reasonable at the present time.

Adult ; Aged ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; drug therapy ; mortality ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Liver Function Tests ; Liver Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; mortality ; surgery ; Liver Transplantation ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; prevention & control ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Analysis ; Survival Rate ; Time Factors ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of adjuvant individualized chemotherapy in prevention of tumor recurrence and improvement of patient survival after liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

METHODS21 HCC cases received orthotopic liver transplantation and treated with adjuvant individualized chemotherapy based on ATP tumor chemosensitivity assay (ex vivo) between April 2001 and January 2003 were retrospective reviewed, compared with 52 cases received orthotopic liver transplantation only. The cumulative and tumor-free survivals were compared between 2 groups.

RESULTSThe 1, 2 years overall survival rates were 92.31%, 73.85% for the individualized chemotherapy group and 92.06%, 63.93% for the non-chemotherapy group, the difference was not statistically significant. The 6, 12, 18, 24 months tumor-free survival rates were 90.00%, 80.00%, 80.00%, 60.00% and 67.31%, 51.92%, 40.03%, 37.81% respectively, the difference was statistically significant (P <0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThis study suggests that tumor recurrence decreases and tumor-free survival increases by adjuvant individualized chemotherapy after liver transplantation for HCC. The individualized protocol based on ATP-TCA may be effective for patients with HCC after liver transplantation.

Adult ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; therapeutic use ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; drug therapy ; mortality ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; mortality ; Liver Transplantation ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; prevention & control ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate ; Transplantation, Homologous ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the clinical efficacy of Jianpi Liqi Yiliu Formula (JLYF) combined with cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells for treating patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

METHODSBetween January 2011 and January 2014, 60 advanced HCC patients were enrolled in this study, who were assigned to the treatment group and the control group according to their willingness for taking JLYF, 30 cases in each group. All patients received CIK cell treatment: 1 x 10⁹-3 x 10⁹ each time, by intravenous dripping from the 1st day to the 3rd day, once per day. Besides, patients in the treatment group took JLYF decoction, while those in the control group took Chinese medical decoction by syndrome typing. All patients received treatment of at least two cycles. The time to progression (TTP) , overall survival (OS), disease control rate (DCR), performance status scale (PS), Child-Pugh scale, and adverse reactions were observed, and subgroup analyzed.

RESULTSTo May 31, 2014, all patients reached the clinical endpoint. TTP was 3.5 months (95% Cl: 3.30-4.10) in the treatment group, better than that (2.5 months, 95% CI: 2.32-2.68) of the control group (P < 0.05). DCR was 36.7% in the treatment group and 30.0% in the control group (P > 0.05). OS was 5.2 months (95% CI: 4.53-5.87) in the treatment group and 4.6 months (95% CI: 4.06-5.14) in the control group (P > 0.05). The PS scale was 1.60 ± 0.10 after treatment, lower than that (1.80 ± 0.09) before treatment in the treatment group (P < 0.05). When the PS scale was 0-2 or Child-Pugh scale was class A, TTP was longer in the treatment group than in the control group (P < 0.05). No adverse reaction occurred in the two groups during the treatment course.

CONCLUSIONSThe combination of JLYF with ClK cell treatment could prolong advanced HCC patients' TTP, improve PS scale, as compared with syndrome typed Chinese medical decoction treatment group. Besides, when the PS scale was 0-2 or Child-Pugh scale was class A, it was a better treatment program for advanced HCC patients.

Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; therapy ; Cell- and Tissue-Based Therapy ; Cytokine-Induced Killer Cells ; cytology ; Disease Progression ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; therapy

OBJECTIVETo explore the distribution of Chinese medicine (CM) syndrome types in primary liver cancer (PLC) and their differences of the survival time.

METHODSFrom May 2007 to March 2009, recruited were 151 PLC inpatients at Department of Tumor, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Their survival time were statistically calculated. Patients' average survival time and median survival time were calculated using Kaplan-Meier method. The Log-rank test was used to analyze their differences of survival time among different CM syndrome types.

RESULTSThe proportion of CM syndrome types in PLC patients were ranked from high to low as follows: mutual accumulation of dampness and blood stasis syndrome [MADBSS, 43.0% (65/151)], Gan-stagnation Pi-deficiency syndrome [GSPDS, 34.4% (52/151)], qi stagnation blood stasis syndrome [QSBSS, 9.3% (14/151)], retention of damp-heat syndrome [RDHS, 8.6%(13/151)], and Gan-Shen yin deficiency syndrome [GSYDS, 4.6% (7/ 151)]. The median survival time of different CM syndrome types were ranked from longer to shorter as follows: GSPDS (14.77 months), QSBSS (6.13 months), RDHS (5.27 months), MADBSS (4.78 months), and GSYDS (0.80 months). The mean survival times were ranked from longer to shorter as follows: GSPDS (12.40 months), QSBSS (8.84 months), MADBSS (6.99 months), RDHS (7.08 months), and GSYDS (0.72 months). There was statistical difference in the difference of the survival time among different CM syndrome types (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSGSPDS and MADBSS were the most common CM syndrome types in PLC patients. There was difference in the survival time between GSPDS and MADBSS/between RDHS and GSYDS. There was difference in the survival time between MADBSS and GSYDS. Patients of GSPDS might get the best prognosis, while patients of GSYDS might get the poorest prognosis.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Female ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; mortality ; pathology ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate ; Yang Deficiency ; Yin Deficiency

Objective To investigate the effects of parecoxib sodium injection combined with dexmedetomidine hydrochloride injection on postoperative cognitive function and stress response in patients with osteoporotic compression fractures.Methods The patients with osteoporotic compression fractures were divided into treatment group and control group according to the treatment plan.The control group was given intravenous injection of dexmedetomidine hydrochloride injection 0.2 μg·kg-1load dose,then micro pump injection 0.2 μg·kg-1·min-1 maintenance dose,until 30 min before the end of the operation;patients in the treatment group were intravenously injected with parecoxib sodium injection 20 mg before local anesthesia and 30 min before the end of operation on the basis of the control group.The pain,sedation,hemodynamics[mean arterial pressure(MAP),heart rate(HR)],cognitive function and safety evaluation were compared between the two groups before operation(T0),2 h after operation(T1),6 h after operation(T2),12 h after operation(T3)and 24 h after operation(T4).Results There were 39 cases in the treatment group and 41 cases in the control group.Visual analogue scale(VAS)scores in treatment group and control group were(3.09±0.55)and(3.41±0.62)scores at T1;VAS scores were(3.02±0.57)and(3.35±0.48)scores at T2;VAS scores were(2.64±0.44)and(2.90±0.46)scores at T3;VAS scores were(2.02±0.41)and(2.35±0.47)scores at T4;MMSE scores were(25.28±1.57)and(24.33±1.42)scores at T2;MMSE scores were(28.16±1.01)and(27.25±0.89)scores at T4;MoCA scores were(24.63±1.60)and(23.59±1.25)scores at T2;MoCA scores were(27.20±0.97)and(26.48±0.83)scores at T4.There were statistically significant differences in the above indexes between the treatment group and the control group(all P＜0.05).Adverse drug reactions in the treatment group included bradycardia,hypotension,nausea vomiting and hypokalemia;adverse drug reactions in the control group included bradycardia,hypotension and nausea vomiting.The total incidence rates of adverse drug reactions were 12.82％and 9.76％,without statistically significant difference(P＞0.05).Conclusion Compared with using dexmedetomidine alone,parecoxib sodium combined with dexmedetomidine is beneficial for relieving postoperative pain in patients with osteoporotic compression fractures,improving postoperative cognitive function.

BACKGROUNDThe main therapeutic treatments for hepatic artery complications after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) include thrombolysis, percutaneous transluminal angioplasty, stent placement, and liver retransplantation. The prognosis of hepatic artery complications after OLT is not only related to the type, extent, and timing but also closely associated with the selection and timing of the therapeutic methods. However, there is no consensus of opinion regarding the treatment of these complications. The aim of this study was to determine optimal treatment for hepatic artery complications after OLT.

METHODSThe clinical data of 25 patients diagnosed with hepatic artery thrombosis (HAT) and hepatic artery stenosis (HAS) between October 2003 and March 2007 were retrospectively reviewed. Treatments included liver retransplantation and interventions which contain thrombolysis, percutaneous transluminal angioplasty and stent placement.

RESULTSAmong five patients with HAT, 3 were treated with thrombolysis. One recovered, one died after thrombolysis and another one died of multi-organ failure after retransplantation because of recurrent HAT. The remaining 2 patients underwent successful retransplantation and have survived after that. Among 12 patients presented with HAS within 1 month postoperatively, 2 patients underwent retransplantation due to irreversible liver failure and another 10 patients were treated with interventions. The liver function failed to improve in 3 patients and retransplantations were performed in 4 patients after stent placement because of ischemic cholangitis. Among 6 patients undergoing liver retransplantations, two died of intracranial hemorrhage and infection respectively. Eight patients presented with HAS after 1 month postoperatively, 5 patients were treated with interventional management and recovered after stent placement. Among another 3 patients presented with HAS, 2 patients' liver function was stable and one patient received late liver retransplantation due to ischemic bile duct lesion.

CONCLUSIONSIndividualized therapeutic regimens should be adopted in treating hepatic artery complications after OLT, according to postoperative periods, types and whether ischemic bile duct lesion exists or not. Liver retransplantation is the best treatment for patients with hepatic artery thrombosis. Interventional treatments of late HAS without irreversible liver failure or bile duct ischemia are appropriate, whereas retransplantation is recommended for early HAS.

Adult ; Aged ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Female ; Hepatic Artery ; pathology ; Humans ; Liver Transplantation ; adverse effects ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Reoperation ; Retrospective Studies ; Thrombosis ; therapy