• Annals of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.76-83
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• 2022

Backgrounds/Aims: The aim of this study was to evaluate longitudinal changes of post-liver transplantation (LT) biliary anatomy and to assess the association of increased laboratory values after LT with the development of post-LT anastomotic biliary stricture (ABS). Methods: Adult deceased donor LT recipients from 2008 and 2019 were evaluated. ABS was defined after blinded review of endoscopic cholangiograms. Controls were patients who underwent LT for hepatocellular carcinoma who did not have any clinical or biochemical concerns for ABS. Results: Of 534 patients who underwent LT, 57 patients had ABS and 57 patients served as controls. On MRI, ABS patients had a narrower anastomosis (2.47 ± 1.32 mm vs. 3.38 ± 1.05 mm; p < 0.01) and wider bile duct at 1-cm proximal to the anastomosis (6.73 ± 2.45 mm vs. 5.66 ± 1.95 mm; p = 0.01) than controls. Association between labs at day 7 and ABS formation was as follows: aspartate aminotransferase hazard ratio (HR): 1.014; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.008-1.020, p = 0.001; total bilirubin HR: 1.292, 95% CI: 1.100-1.517, p = 0.002; and conjugated bilirubin HR: 1.467, 95% CI: 1.216-1.768, p = 0.001. Corresponding analysis results for day 28 were alanine aminotransferase HR: 1.004, 95% CI: 1.002-1.006, p = 0.001; alkaline phosphatase HR: 1.005, 95% CI: 1.003-1.007, p = 0.001; total bilirubin HR: 1.233, 95% CI: 1.110-1.369, p = 0.001; and conjugated bilirubin HR: 1.272, 95% CI: 1.126-1.437, p = 0.001. Conclusions: Elevation of laboratory values early after LT is associated with ABS formation.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.368-380
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• 2002

Purpose: Liver transplantation (LT), one of the therapeutic options of primary liver cancer has been suffering from recurrence caused by metastasis in 8-54% of patients. This study was performed to investigate whether FDG-PET is useful for detecting hidden metastasis in LT candidates. Materials and Methods: Twenty-six patients (male:female=23:3, mean age 55.7 years) underwent FDG-PET. Their previous conventional diagnostic studies (CDS) like abdomen US and CT, chest x-ray and CT, and bone scan were negative (n=22) or equivocal (n=4) for metastasis. Positive FDG-PET findings were confirmed by biopsy or clinical follow-up. Results: Among 4 patients with equivocal metastatic lesions on CDS, 3 had 6 hypermetabolic lesions on FDG-PET, which were confirmed as metastasis and subsequently LTs were cancelled. Of these, 5 lesions were initially negative on CDS. Remained 1 patient underwent LT with a negative FDG-PET result. Among 22 patients without metastasis on CDS, 5 had 7 hypermetabolic lesions on FDG-PET. One of these patients proved to have 2 metastatic lesions, and LT was cancelled. The other 4 patients had S hypermetabolic lesions on FDG-PET, which were confirmed as benign lesions, and 3 patients of them underwent LT. In summary, FDG-PET was useful in avoiding 4 unwarranted LT by detecting unsuspected metastatic lesions on CDS. A total of 17 patients underwent LT. In comparison with pathology, the sensitivity and specificity of FDG-PET for detecting viable primary liver cancer were 55.6% (5/9) and 87.5% (7/8), respectively. Conclusion: FDG-PET can detect additional hidden metastasis and contribute to reducing unwarranted LT in the patients with primary liver cancer.

• Korean Journal of Transplantation
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.157-169
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• 2017

Regulatory T cells (Treg) naturally rein in immune attacks, and they can inhibit rejection of transplanted organs and even reverse the progression of autoimmune diseases in mice. The initial safety trials of Treg against graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) provided evidence that the adoptive transfer of Treg is safe and capable of limiting disease progression. Supported by such evidence, numerous clinical trials have been actively investigating the efficacy of Treg targeting autoimmune diseases, type I diabetes, and organ transplant rejection, including kidney and liver. The limited quantity of Treg cells harvested from peripheral blood and subsequent in vitro culture have posed a great challenge to large-scale clinical application of Treg; nevertheless, the concept of CAR (chimeric antigen receptor)-Treg has emerged as a potential resolution to the problem. Recently, two CAR-T therapies, tisagenlecleucel and axicabtagene ciloleucel, were approved by the US FDA for the treatment of refractory or recurrent acute lymhoblastic leukemia. This approval could serve as a guideline for the production protocols for other genetically engineered T cells for clinical use as well. The phase I and II clinical trials of these agents has demonstrated that genetically engineered and antigen-targeting T cells are safe and efficacious in humans. In conclusion, both the promising results of Treg cell therapy from the clinical studies and the recent FDA approval of CAR-T therapies are paving the way for CAR-Treg therapy in clinical use.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.573-579
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• 1997

During the last 30 years, major organ transplantation has become popular, even in Korea, such as kidney, liver, etc. After the successful clinical cardiac transplantation in Korea, many cases of cardiac transplantation are being performed in some centers. But lung transplantation has a lot of obstacles, especially'donor shortage and decreased tolerability of the lung to ischemia-reperfusion injury. Usually it was considered that the maximum safety margin of ischemic time in lung transplantation was about 4 to 6 hours. So, many investigators have tried to develop better preservation methods and experimental model for evaluation of effectiveness in those various methods. But most of those methods had several drawbacks in clinical and experimental settings. So we developed an easily-controllable, reliable, and inexpensive experimental model of isolated rabbit lung block. Using these model, we evaluated its effectiveness and reliability for the experiment of ischemia-reperfusion injury in lung transplantation.

• Advances in pediatric surgery
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.125-130
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• 1998

To assess the clinical and nutritional status of long-term survivors of biliary atresia, history taking, medical record review, physical examination (height, weight, MAC, TSF), blood tests (LFT, prothrombin time, platelet count, prealbumin, calcium) and liver needle biopsy were performed in 12 patients in whom Kasai procedure were performed more than 10 years ago at Department of Pediatric Surgery in Seoul National University Hospital. None were below the 5th percentile in height and weight. TSF was above the 75th percentile in all patients and showed good subcutaneous fat deposition. MAC was above the 5th percentile in all patients. Serum prealbumin level was abnormal in 2 patients with abnormal liver function and revealed visceral protein malnutrition. Serum calcium level was decreased below normal range in 4 patients with abnormal liver function. One patient had mild ascites. Five patients had abnormal liver function and 7 patients showed clinical manifestation of portal hypertension. Liver needle biopsy was performed in 5 patients and no cirrhotic change was observed. Although some patients who have survived for more than 10 years after Kasai procedure developed protein malnutrition and vitamin deficiencies, growth and development and nutritional status were generally satisfactory. Five patients(42%) showed normal liver function and no portal hypertension. In conclusion, Kasai procedure is satisfactory as a primary treatment in biliary atresia but significant portion of long-term survivors had abnormal liver function and portal hypertension. Continuous and careful follow-up is necessary to determine when liver transplantation may be indicated.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.66 no.1
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• pp.47-51
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• 2009

Hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS) is characterized by a defect in arterial oxygenation that's induced by pulmonary vascular dilatation in the setting of liver disease. Some studies have shown the relationship between the presence of the HPS and the severity of liver disease, but there are only rare cases of HPS inpatient with Child-Pugh class A liver cirrhosis. We report here on a case of a 58 years-old male who suffered from progressive dyspnea for the previous few years. He was diagnosed with alcoholic liver cirrhosis 5 years previously. There was no significant abnormality on the chest radiograph and transthoracic echocardiography, but the arterial blood gas analysis revealed severe hypoxemia. Contrast-enhanced transesophageal echocardiograpy with agitated saline demonstrated a delayed appearance of microbubbles in the left cardiac chambers. Thus, he was finally diagnosed with HPS. This case suggests that we should consider HPS when a patient with compensated liver cirrhosis has unexplained dyspnea.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.32-38
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• 2003

Purpose: Hepatic allografts from donors with hepatitis B core antibody have been demonstrated to transmit hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection to recipients after liver transplantation (LT). The efficacy of hepatitis B immune globulin (HBIg) to prevent de novo hepatitis B was investigated by comparing active immunization in the early phase to HBIg monotherapy in the late phase of pediatric liver transplants at Samsung Medical Center. Methods: Among pediatric liver transplants, from May, 1996 to June, 2002, 15 recipients who were hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) (-) received an allograft from a donor with hepatitis B core antibody (HBcAb) (+). Except two who died from unrelated causes, eleven of 13 recipients were HBsAb (+), and 2 were naive (HBsAb(-), HBcAb(-)). All patients were vaccinated for HBV before LT. In the early phase (January, 1997~November, 1997, 3 patients), HBsAb (+) recipients received booster vaccination after LT. In the late phase (December, 1997~, 10 patients), all recipients were given booster vaccination and received HBIg therapy in order to maintain HBsAb titer greater than 200 IU/L. Lamivudine was given in one case because of severe side effect of HBIg. We retrospectively analyzed the effect of the preventive therapy for de novo hepatitis B through medical records. Results: De novo hepatitis B developed in three of 13 recipients (23.1%). All of 3 patients who received active immunization in the early phase became HBsAg (+) at 7~19 months after transplantation. One of them was naive before LT and the other two were HBsAb (+). All of 10 recipients who were given HBIg in the late phase remained HBsAg (-) at 7~55 months' follow-up. Conclusion: Passive immunization with HBIg was effective for prevention of de novo hepatitis B in HBsAg (-) recipients of hepatic allografts from HBcAb (+) donors.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.63-70
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• 2001

Purpose: The aim of this study is to evaluate the effective role of living-related liver transplantation (LRLT) on posttransplant linear growth in children. Methods: Thirty six children were enrolled who received LRLT at Asan Medical Center from December, 1994 to February, 1999 and showed more than one-year postoperative survival. Mean height standard deviation score (zH) was analyzed according to medical records including heights during pretransplant and posttransplant follow-up periods. Results: zH of total children showed significant linear growth after LRLT from -1.58 to 0.33 at 24 posttransplant month (p<0.05). zH in children under 6 years of age, to exclude the effect of adolescent linear growth spurt, showed increment in height (p<0.05). Linear growth of children with liver cirrhosis improved and that with fulminant hepatitis was matained same. While stunted children (mean zH=-2.30) achieved good catch-up growth after transplantation, children with normal growth remained same. Children with significant hepatic dysfunction after LRLT such as chronic rejection or posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorder showed retarded posttrasplant linear growth. There was no statistical difference according to the type of immunosuppressants. Conclusion: LRLT resulted in adequate or catch-up linear growth in children with acute, chronic and metabolic liver disease. Successful LRLT suggested to be a promising option not only in long term survival but also in normal linear growth.

• 대한미세수술학회:학술대회논문집
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• 1996.10a
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• pp.158-158
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• 1996

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.129-138
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• 2005

As the patients who need to undergo liver transplant operation continues to grow. the number of livers that are donated can not keep pace with the demand. With the development of surgery skills, the necessity for operations from living donors is increasing. Nevertheless, satisfactory research has been conducted on the factors which generally affect the living donors. In this article. therefore. researchers focused on the factors which generally affect the donating liver donor in order to design a plan for recommending liver donation from living donors. The subjects were 91 living liver donors in C university hospital from October 1. 2000 to December 31. 2003. The results on the uncertainty of living donor, by test sheet. were analyzed with SAS program. The final results were as follows: 1. The uncertainty of the living donors was 51.54 marks per full credit 100. 2. The factor with the greatest effect on donation was the possibility of survival of the donor, followed by the admission period. marriage status and age. In recommending the living donation, the rate of donor survival after the operation was 5.2 times higher than death, 5.2 times higher when the admission period was under 20 days. 5.0 times higher when married. and 27.3 times higher when the family-related donation was very active at the age of 20s than in the 50s. These results suggest that all medical staffs should care for living donors with more interest and activity to give them the least complaints in admission and the lowest possibilities for complication. To enhance the survival rate and improve the surgical success rate. on-going monitoring should include regular health-checks. and continual efforts and education should be made to care for the health condition of the living donors after donation.