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©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Hepatol. May 28, 2015; 7(9): 1238-1243
Published online May 28, 2015. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v7.i9.1238
Published online May 28, 2015. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v7.i9.1238
Anticoagulation and antiplatelets as prophylaxis for hepatic artery thrombosis after liver transplantation
Abdullah A Algarni, Moustafa M Mourad, Liver Unit, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham B15 2TH, United Kingdom
Simon R Bramhall, General Surgery Department, Wye Valley NHS Trust, Hereford HR1 2BN, United Kingdom
Author contributions: Algarni AA designed the study; Algarni AA and Mourad MM collected, analysed, interpreted the data, and drafted the article; Bramhall SR designed the conception, critically revised the manuscript for important intellectual content, and made the final approval of the version to be published.
Conflict-of-interest: None of the authors has any potential conflicting financial interests relevant to this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Dr. Abdullah A Algarni, Liver Unit, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Nuffield House 3rd Floor, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TH, United Kingdom. abdullah.algarni@doctors.org.uk
Telephone: +44-742-7365931 Fax: +44-121-4141833
Received: August 29, 2014
Peer-review started: August 30, 2014
First decision: October 14, 2014
Revised: November 16, 2014
Accepted: February 9, 2015
Article in press: February 11, 2015
Published online: May 28, 2015
Peer-review started: August 30, 2014
First decision: October 14, 2014
Revised: November 16, 2014
Accepted: February 9, 2015
Article in press: February 11, 2015
Published online: May 28, 2015
Core Tip
Core tip: Hepatic artery thrombosis (HAT) is the most serious vascular complication after liver transplantation. Changes in haemostasis associated with liver disease play a role in its development. Pharmacological prophylaxis may reduce its incidence and prevent graft loss. Few studies have shown a clear benefit of antiplatelets in reducing HAT occurrence, however, these studies have several limitations. The use of anticoagulants showed an improvement in the outcomes when used for high-risk patients. Their major concern is the tendency to increase bleeding complication. Hence, monitoring of their administration and careful selection of patients to be treated are of great importance.