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Temporary end-to-side portocaval shunt in orthotopic hepatic transplantation in humans. Surg Gynecol Obstet 1993; 176: 180. Received 17 December 1998. Accepted 26 February 1999. 0041-1337/99/6805-650/0 TRANSPLANTATION Vol. 68, 650 – 655, No. 5, September 15, 1999 Copyright © 1999 by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc. Printed in U.S.A. AN ANALYSIS OF PRETRANSPLANTATION VARIABLES ASSOCIATED WITH LONG-TERM ALLOGRAFT OUTCOME IN PEDIATRIC LIVER TRANSPLANT RECIPIENTS RECEIVING PRIMARY TACROLIMUS (FK506) THERAPY THOMAS V. CACCIARELLI,IGOR DVORCHIK,GEORGE V. MAZARIEGOS,DAVID GERBER,ASHOK B. JAIN, JOHN J. FUNG, AND JORGE REYES 1 Departments of Transplant Surgery, Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213 Background. The present study analyzes pretrans- plantation variables associated with long-term liver allograft survival in 278 children who underwent transplantation under primary tacrolimus (FK506) therapy at a single center between October 1989 and October 1996. Methods. The influence of 17 pretransplantation variables on long-term liver allograft outcome was an- alyzed. Donor variables included age, weight, gender, and cold ischemia time. Recipient variables included age, weight, gender, original liver disease, pretrans- plantation waiting time, previous abdominal surgery, United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS) status, ABO blood group, bilirubin level, prothrombin time, ammo- nia level, creatinine level, and reduced-size/split liver grafts. Results. Overall actuarial graft survival was 79.9% at 1 year, 79.1% at 2 years, and 78.3% at 3, 4, and 5 years. Retransplantation rate was 10.8%. Pretransplantation variables with a significant adverse effect on graft survival by univariate analysis were donor age <1 year (P<0.004), donor weight <10 kg (P<0.003), UNOS status I and II (P<0.007), ABO type O, B, and AB (P<0.03), and reduced-size/split liver grafts (P<0.02). 1 Address correspondence to: Jorge Reyes, MD, Department of Transplant Surgery, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, 3705 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213. TRANSPLANTATION 650 Vol. 68, No. 5