(HealthDay News) – Morbidity is increased in the early postoperative phase following liver transplant for patients who have obesity with diabetes mellitus, according to research published online January 7 in Liver Transplantation.
In an effort to assess the influence of pre-transplant risk variables on postoperative morbidity and survival, Anna J. Dare, MBChB, of the University of Auckland in New Zealand, and colleagues analyzed data from a cohort of 202 consecutive patients receiving a liver transplant. Variables included coronary artery disease, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and obesity.
The researchers found a high level of agreement (86%) between body mass index and percentage of body fat for the classification of patients as obese or non-obese. Independent factors that increased risk for a higher postoperative event rate included diabetes mellitus (counts ratio [CR], 1.4; P<0.001) and obesity (CR, 1.03; P<0.001). The strongest predictor of increased risk for higher postoperative event rate (CR, 1.75; P<0.001) and longer hospital stay (5.81 days; P<0.01) was obesity with concomitant diabetes mellitus. No effect on survival (30-day, one-year, or five-year) was observed for independent metabolic risk factors.
“Early post-liver transplantation morbidity is highest in patients with concomitant obesity and diabetes mellitus, though these factors do not appear to influence recipient survival,” the authors write.
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