Somatostatin in Living Donor Liver Transplantation

In liver transplantation (LT) portal hyperperfusion can severely impair graft function and survival, mainly in cases of partial LT. Perioperative somatostatin infusion has been shown to be safe, to reduce the Hepatic Vein to Portal Vein Gradients and to preserve the arterial inflow to the graft in whole liver transplantation. In partial grafts, the pharmacological action of somatostatin could reduce the graft damage due to portal hyperperfusion and arterial hypoperfusion, reducing the incidence of small-for-size syndrome and graft loss and improving the patients survival. Objective of the study is to investigate the safety and the efficacy of somatostatin as liver inflow modulator in patients with end-stage liver disease (ESLD) and clinically significant portal hypertension (CSPH) undergoing Adult-to-Adult living donor liver transplantation (A2ALDLT). Fifty-six patients undergoing A2ALDLT for ESLD and CSPH will be randomized double-blindly to receive somatostatin or placebo (1:1). The study drug will be administered intraoperatively as 5ml bolus (somatostatin: 500 μg), followed by a 2.5 ml/hour infusion (somatostatin: 250 μg/hour) for 10 days. Hepatic and systemic hemodynamic will be measured, along with liver function tests and clinical outcomes. The ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) will be analysed through histological and protein expression analysis. The primary endpoint of the study will be the portal vein flow reduction measured at the end of liver transplant. Secondary end-points will be the reduction in the portal vein pressure, the rate of patients requiring surgical inflow modulation, the incidence of small for size syndrome, the severity of the ischemia reperfusion injury, the need for early re-transplantation (6 months), the incidence of adverse and serious adverse events, the 90-day mortality. This randomized controlled trial could be the first to show the efficacy of somatostatin as modulator of the graft inflow in living-donor liver transplantation and potential improvement in graft and patient survival.