General compliance after liver transplantation for alcoholic cirrhosis

In recent years, alcoholic cirrhosis has been accepted as an indication for OLT, compliance of patients suffering from alcoholic cirrhosis is still un der discussion. however. 118 patients who had undergone OLT for alcoholic c irrhosis were considered for analysis. The mean follow-up time of the study population was 53.7 +/- 38.9 months. Compliance was defined by 3 parameter s: 1. Sobriety. Fifteen (13 %) out of 118 recipients suffered an alcohol re lapse during the observation period. There was no difference between the gr oups with or without alcohol relapse concerning compliance with medication, incidence of rejection, or adherence to checkups. 2. Drug-compliance. Nine teen recipients (16%) were not within the target range with the immunosuppr essive medication. Comparison of the compliant- and non-compliant groups pr oduced a significant difference for late acute rejection, the other paramet ers being similar in the subgroups. 3. Adherence to appointments. Nearly al l patients in the study population ( > 95 %) were compliant with both trans plant and psychological appointments in the outpatient clinic. In conclusio n, analysis of our data indicates that patients with OLT for alcoholic cirr hosis are compliant, although alcohol relapse occurs in 13 % of recipients.