566 HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA RECURRENCE AFTER LIVER TRANSPLANTATION: DOES THE GRAFT TYPE PLAY A ROLE ON SURVIVAL?

POSTERS related to bile leak, bilioma, abscess or cholangitis, forcing an immediate or delayed reLT.Methods: 20 sessions of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBO) for 90 minutes at 2.5 absolute atmosphere (ATA) were applied in 7 patients with HAT.In two patients HAT occours after reLT, in four cases after primary adult LT, and in one case after a combined liver and kidney transplantation in a pediatric patient.Median time of dignosis of HAT after LT was 229 days.Surgical or radiological intervention to treat HAT was no more applicable at that time.In all cases, reLT was deemed technically not feasible or extremely risky.In three cases, intrahepatic arterial blood flow was totally absent and in the other four cases some collateral arterial flow was found at US and at CT scan.In 5 patients, HAT was life-threatening because of the development of hepatic abscesses.Results: HBO therapy avoided reLT in all 7 patients, and the improvement of the intrahepatic arterial blood flow was constantly recorded.Percutaneous radiological drainage was successfully performed in the 5 patients with abscesses.Only 1 patient died because of viral pneumonia, 6 of the 7 patients are alive with their original graft.Conclusions: In our experience HBO was a safe and effective therapy to preventing progressive ischemia damage of the graft.When no other therapeutic chance is available, HBO should be considered to treat the patients with HAT after LT.