Hepatic transplantation in Europe. First Report of the European Liver Transplant Registry.

At the 32 European centres where livers are transplanted the actuarial survival rate for 1218 patients was 44% at 1 year and 41% at 2 years. Perioperative mortality (30 days) was 30%. Recipients aged under 15 years had a higher survival rate than those aged over 15; the differences were 22% at 1 year and 32% at 2 years. For the 97 patients who received two or more liver grafts, actuarial survival was 27.7% at 1 and 2 years. Two-thirds of the transplantations were done since 1984. Since then the best results have been obtained for biliary atresia (88 cases; survival rates at 30 days, 1 year, and 2 years were 87%, 74%, and 68%). Primary biliary cirrhosis was the commonest benign indication for transplantation, with survival of 64% at 1 and 2 years. The proportion of transplantations that were done for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma was smaller after than before 1984; among transplantations done in adults after 1984, those done because of hepatocellular carcinoma gave the best perioperative survival rate (76%) but the worst 2 year survival (30.8%).