Introduction: Liver transplantation (LT) is the only curative treatment for chronic liver disease, acute fulminant hepatitis and some metabolic diseases. Thanks to advances in immunosuppression and surgery, 10-year survival rates after LT have increased up to 85%. After liver transplantation, it is very important that recipients are physically as well as psychologically and socially healthy. The aim of a successful LT should be not only to increase patient survival but also to enhance the patient’s quality of personal and family life. We presented the long term results of a patient who underwent liver transplantation 34 years ago in 1990.
Materials and Methods: A 6-year-old girl was admitted to our hospital with intermittent epistaxis and abdominal distension. Physical examination revealed icterus of the skin and sclera and also splenomegaly. Radiologic imaging showed cirrhotic liver and intraperitoneal ascites. After liver biopsy, the patient was diagnosed with Wilson's disease. The patient was started on metalkaptase treatment medically and paracentesis was performed regularly 2 days a week. The patient was on the waiting list because there was no suitable living donor. Finally, in November 1990, when the patient was 17 years old, we performed liver transplantation from a deceased donor.
Results: After liver transplantation, the patient was successfully discharged without any significant postoperative complications. The patient started working as a secretary at our transplantation center in January 1991, only 2 months after LT. Moreover, she got married in September 1991, 11 months after her liver transplant. She gave birth to a healthy baby boy in November 1993, about two years after her marriage. From 1993 to 2010, the patient did not have any health problems during the follow-up period. In 2010, despite all medical treatments, the patient went into chronic rejection and underwent a second liver transplantation from a deceased donor in 2011, at the age of 38. There was no significant complication after the second liver transplantation and the patient was successfully discharged. In 2023, a healthy grandson was born and the patient is still working at our center.
Conclusion:  Liver transplant is a procedure with various difficulties but offers a life-saving option for patients with different types of liver diseases. More positive outcomes are achieved in patients as a result of correct measures, social support, early transplant age, correct treatment, and post-transplant follow-up procedures performed by a team of multi-disciplinary experts. With the correct medical and social support, pediatric LT patients experience better long-term graft survival and improved quality of life in physical, psychological, social and professional terms and continue their lives on equal conditions with healthy population.