%0 Journal Article
%A Álvaro, Edurne
%A Jiménez Romero, Luis Carlos
%A Palomo, Ignacio
%A Manrique Municio, Alejandro
%A Alegre, Cristina
%A García, María
%A Justo Alonso, Iago
%A Abradelo De Usera, Manuel
%A Calvo Pulido, Jorge
%A García-Sesma Pérez-Fuentes, Álvaro
%A Cambra Molero, Félix
%A Loinaz Segurola, Carmelo
%A Moreno González, Enrique
%T Pregnancy and orthotopic liver transplantation
%D 2013
%@ 0041-1345
%U https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/116749
%X BackgroundSexual and reproductive abnormalities affect up to 50% patients with terminal liver failure. However, these functions recover quickly after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). Thus, 80%–90% of OLT women of childbearing age recover menstruation within a few months after transplantation. The aim of our study was to analyze the impact of pregnancy among liver transplant recipients at our center, as well as to analyze the effects of immunosuppression on the fetus.MethodsFrom April 1986 to April 2011, we performed 1500 OLT in 1341 recipients. Among these recipients, 18 patients (1.2%) become pregnant during the follow-up.ResultsThe most frequent causes of terminal liver failure were as follows: chronic parenchymal disease (n = 9; 50%), cholestatic disease (n = 3; 16.6%), acute liver failure (n = 5; 27.7%), and metabolic disease (n = 1; 5.5%) The average recipient age at the beginning of pregnancy was 21.2 (±7.3) years. Sixteen patients (88%) became pregnant beyond a year after OLT. The 30 pregnancies in our study resulted in the following: newborns alive (NBA; n = 20; 66.6%) abortions (n = 8; 26.6%) or fetal deaths (n = 2; 6%). The most common immunosuppressant used during pregnancy was tacrolimus (75%) followed by cyclosporine (25%). There were no maternal deaths during pregnancy or the postpartum period.DiscussionWe did not observe significant differences between immunosuppression type and maternal complications, pregnancy duration, and childbirth type. Although pregnancy is potential risk, the literature and our results suggest that at a year or more after OLT it usually is safe and successful.
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