Infection, CVD more prevalent among liver transplant recipients with metabolic syndrome

Provided by Healio

June 3, 2013

ORLANDO, Fla. — The presence of metabolic syndrome post-liver transplantation increased the risk for infection and cardiovascular disease, according to data presented at Digestive Disease Week.

In a retrospective cohort study, researchers evaluated 158 patients who underwent liver transplantation between 2002 and 2007 at a single medical facility, with follow-up through September 2012. The presence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) before transplant and at 6 and 12 months post-transplant was determined in each case.

Before transplantation, 25% of the cohort had MetS, which increased at 6 months (51% of cases) and 12 months post-transplant (61%). Thirty-one percent of participants who did not have prior MetS developed it de novo at 6 months, while 54% developed it by 12 months.

Investigators observed a significant association between MetS at 6 months and infection-related hospitalizations within the first post-transplant year (53% of those with compared with 31% of those without MetS; P=.005). Hospitalizations due to cardiovascular disease (CVD) also were more common among those with post-transplant MetS (26% of cases at 5 years post-transplant vs. 13%; P=.05).

Patients with MetS and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) were not at increased risk for either infection- or cardiovascular-related hospitalization compared with those with MetS alone. NAFLD, however, significantly increased the risk for CVD among patients without MetS (14% vs. 0% of those without NAFLD; P=.03). Neither MetS nor NAFLD significantly impacted post-transplant survival, according to Kaplan-Meier analysis.

“We were able to show there was a statistically significant association with early infectious morbidity, as well as later cardiovascular morbidity, if you have symptoms of [MetS],” researcher Nicholas Kim, MD, an internal medicine resident at the University of Wisconsin, told Healio.com. “Our data suggest that it’s important to prevent metabolic syndrome from developing post-liver transplant. It’s a very common complication due to a variety of reasons, but if we are able to prevent it, we might be able to reduce the amount of early infectious complications and later cardiovascular complications after liver transplant.”

For more information:

Kim N. Tu1019: Development of the Metabolic Syndrome and Its Outcomes After Liver Transplantation. Presented at: Digestive Disease Week 2013; May 18-21, Orlando, Fla.

Source