Experience in liver retransplantation in 28 cases

Objective To summarize the experience in liver retransplantation. Methods The clinical data of 8 patients received liver retransplantation in our hospital were retrospectively analyzed and relevant literature reviewed. Results For the 8 patients, 2 received liver transplantation for chronic rejection, 5 for ischemic biliary lesion and 1 for hepatic arterial thrombosis. Five of them were cured and 3 died because of serious infection, failure of major organs and bleeding in brain. Conclusions Liver retransplantation can effectively save the patients with graft failure. Proper indication, optimal operating time, improvement of operative skills and appropriate treatment during the perioperative period are very important for promoting rate of success of liver retransplantation.