Alcohol relapse can adversely affect survival rates in patients after liver transplantation only after 10 years, as per a study.

The study results appeared in Liver Transplantation, the official journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) and the International Liver Transplantation Society (ILTS). This journal is published on behalf of the societies by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and is available online via Wiley InterScience.

From News-Medical.Net:

Led by Antonio Cuadrado, M.D. of the Gastroenterology and Hepatology  Unit of the University Hospital “Marqués de Valdecilla” in Santander, Spain, the study expanded on a 1977 study involving 44 patients who underwent liver transplants for ALD and 17 controls who were followed up for a mean period of 39.5 months. This group was enlarged for the present study to 54 patients in total, including those analyzed in the previous study. Before transplantation was undertaken, a 6-month period of abstinence from alcohol was required. Patients were all given the same immunosuppressive regimen, consisting of cyclosporine A, steroids and azathioprine. By the end of the third month following transplant, azathioprine was stopped and prednisone was progressively tapered over the first year. Follow-up periods ranged from 14 to 155 months, with a mean of 99.2 months.

It was noted by the study authors that risk-reducing measures such as abstaining from alcohol and quitting smoking should be encouraged in the affected patients.

Tags:  alcohol relapse, azathioprine, liver transplantation, Steroids

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