【Introduction】 Therapeutic strategies for antibody mediated rejection (AMR) after liver transplantation are gradually being established; however, the efficacy of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) therapy as a treatment for AMR after liver transplantation is not clear. The purpose of this multicenter, retrospective, observational study was to clarify the actual status of AMR treatment using IVIg in Japan, and the efficacy and safety of IVIg therapy.
【Methods】 Sixty-one liver transplant recipients diagnosed with AMR and treated with IVIg between April 2001 and March 2022 were analyzed. Sixty-one patients in the secondary survey who were treated with IVIG were analyzed for efficacy and safety in a retrospective study.
【Results】 Acute AMR was observed in 86.0% of adult cases, and 94.4% of pediatric cases. Acute T cell-mediated rejection (TCMR) was also concomitant with AMR in 48.8% of adult patients and 22.2% of pediatric patients. When AMR develops after liver transplantation, IVIg + PE and IVIg + steroid pulse therapy was the most common treatment in adult patients (27.9%). In pediatric cases, IVIg therapy alone was the most commonly used, at 38.9%. Patient survival and graft survival rates at 6 months after AMR treatment including IVIg in adult patients were 69.8% and 69.8%, respectively and were 94.4% and 88.9% in pediatric patients, respectively.
Serious adverse events, including those with unknown causal relationship, were observed in 7.0% of adult cases and 5.6% of pediatric cases.
【Conclusion】 AMR treatment including IVIg is safe and has sufficient therapeutic effect and may be one of the effective treatment modalities for the development of AMR after liver transplantation.
