Incidence and risk factors of alcohol relapse after liver transplantation: Analysis of pre-transplant abstinence and psychosocial features

Tien Wei Yu, Yu Ming Chen, Chih Chi Wang, Chih Che Lin, Kuang Tzu Huang, Yueh Wei Liu, Li Wen Hsu, Wei Feng Li, Yi Chai Chan, Chao Long Chen*, Chien Chih Chen*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal Article peer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

Alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) is a common indication for liver transplantation (LT). Alcohol relapse after LT is associated with graft loss and worse prognosis. Over the past 20 years, the number and prevalence of living donor liver transplantations (LDLTs) have increased in Taiwan. The aims of this retrospective study are to analyze the incidence and risk factors of alcohol relapse after LT at a single center in Taiwan. A total of 98 patients with ALD who underwent LT from January 2012 to December 2018 were retrospectively evaluated by chart review. Pre-transplant characteristics as well as psychosocial and alcoholic history were used to test the possible associations among the risk factors studied and post-LT alcohol relapse. The incidence of post-LT alcohol relapse was 16.3%. The median duration of alcohol relapse after liver transplantation was 28.1 months (range: 1–89.4 months). The cumulative incidence was 12% and 19% at 1 year and 3 years after LT, respectively. The most powerful risk factors were a pre-LT abstinence period less than 6 months and younger age of starting alcohol. For predicting alcohol relapse, the accuracy rate of abstinence less than 6 months was up to 83.7%. In summary, pre-abstinence period plays a role in predicting post-LT alcohol relapse. Post-LT interventions should be considered specifically for the patients with short abstinence period. Long-term follow-up, patient-centered counseling, and enhancement of healthy lifestyle are suggested to prevent alcohol relapse.

Original languageEnglish
Article number3716
Pages (from-to)1-11
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of Clinical Medicine
Volume9
Issue number11
DOIs
StatePublished - 11 2020

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Keywords

  • Abstinence
  • Alcohol
  • Alcohol-associated liver disease
  • Liver transplantation
  • Psychosocial features
  • Relapse

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