Combined liver-small bowel transplantation: the first adult case in France

BACKGROUND: We report here the first adult case of combined liver-small bow el transplantation performed in France. CASE REPORT: A double liver + small bowel graft was transplanted in a 21-ye ar-old patient hospitalized for 4 years for a short bowel syndrome requirin g total parenteral nutrition. The patient also had severe hepatic fibrosis. The immediate post-operative period was uneventful. Two and one-half years after the double graft, the patient is on strictly oral nutrition, no long er has a stomy and lives a normal life in his home. DISCUSSION: The advent of tacrolimus has led to long-term success of bowel grafts, developed earlier in children and now possible in adults. Combined liver-small bowel transplantation is formally indicated in patients with ci rrhogenic liver disease associated with irreversible small bowel failure.