Current challenges in the post-transplant care of liver transplant recipients in Germany

  • Improving long-term patient and graft survival after liver transplantation (LT) remains a major challenge. Compared to the early phase after LT, long-term morbidity and mortality of the recipients not only depends on complications immediately related to the graft function, infections, or rejection, but also on medical factors such as de novo malignancies, metabolic disorders (e.g., new-onset diabetes, osteoporosis), psychiatric conditions (e.g., anxiety, depression), renal failure, and cardiovascular diseases. While a comprehensive post-transplant care at the LT center and the connected regional networks may improve outcome, there is currently no generally accepted standard to the post-transplant management of LT recipients in Germany. We therefore described the structure and standards of post-LT care by conducting a survey at 12 German LT centers including transplant hepatologists and surgeons. Aftercare structures and form of cost reimbursement considerably varied between LT centers across Germany. Further discussions and studies are required to define optimal structure and content of post-LT care systems, aiming at improving the long-term outcomes of LT recipients.

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Author:Kerstin Herzer, Martina Sterneck, Martin-Walter WelkerGND, Silvio Nadalin, Gabriele Kirchner, Felix Braun, Christina Malessa, Adam Herber, Johann PratschkeGND, Karl Heinz Weiss, Elmar Jäckel, Frank TackeORCiDGND
URN:urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-574011
DOI:https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm9113570
ISSN:2077-0383
Pubmed Id:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33167567
Parent Title (English):Journal of Clinical Medicine
Publisher:MDPI
Place of publication:Basel
Document Type:Article
Language:English
Date of Publication (online):2020/11/05
Date of first Publication:2020/11/05
Publishing Institution:Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg
Release Date:2020/12/23
Tag:Germany; aftercare structures; liver transplantation; liver transplantation center; long-term outcome; post-liver transplantation management
Volume:9
Issue:Article 3570
Page Number:23
HeBIS-PPN:475977556
Institutes:Medizin / Medizin
Dewey Decimal Classification:6 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / 61 Medizin und Gesundheit / 610 Medizin und Gesundheit
Sammlungen:Universitätspublikationen
Licence (German):License LogoCreative Commons - Namensnennung 4.0