Clinical Significance of Pulmonary Nodules in the Pretransplant Evaluation of Liver Transplant Recipients With Hepatocellular Carcinoma

摘要

Objectives: Pulmonary nodules are common in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who are being evaluated for a possible liver transplant. Materials and Methods: In this retrospective study, we analyzed the records of liver transplant recipients at our institution with a primary diagnosis of hepa?-tocellular carcinoma who received transplants between 2000 and 2015. All patients had magnetic resonance imaging-confirmed disease within Milan criteria and a concurrent staging chest computed tomography. Patient survival was estimated using Kaplan-Meier methods and compared between pulmonary nodule characteristic groups. A Cox proportional hazards model was constructed for adjusted analysis. Results: Of the 197 liver transplant recipients who met our study inclusion criteria (median follow-up, 40 mo), 115 (58.4%) had a total of 231 pulmonary nodules, with 57 (49.6%) having multiple nodules and 108 (93.9%) having nodules P .05). However, pulmonary nodules 1 cm were associated with decreased overall survival. Conclusions: In our pretransplant evaluation of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, pulmonary nodules.