{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,2]],"date-time":"2026-09-02T19:02:54Z","timestamp":1788375774010,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":24,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,19]],"date-time":"2024-03-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1710806400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":18,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Clinical Transplantation"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2024,3]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title><jats:sec><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p>The use of protocol liver biopsy to monitor liver allograft status remains controversial. There is limited data from modern transplantation populations that includes protocol biopsies to evaluate its value in predicting clinical outcomes.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>All protocol liver biopsies were identified from 875 patients who underwent liver transplantation at Helsinki University Hospital between 2000 and 2019. Each histologic component was analyzed for its ability to predict long\u2010term outcomes, especially graft survival. We determined the frequency of significant biopsy findings based on the Banff working group definition. Liver function tests (LFTs) and clinical markers were evaluated for their ability to predict significant biopsy findings.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>In total, 867 protocol liver biopsies were analyzed. Significant findings were identified in 20.1% of the biopsies. In the first protocol biopsy, steatohepatitis (hazard ratio [HR] 3.504, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u00a0=\u00a0.03) and moderate or severe congestion (HR 3.338, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u00a0=\u00a0.04) predicted graft loss. The presence of cholangitis (HR 2.563, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u00a0=\u00a0.04), necrosis (HR 7.635, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u00a0&lt;\u00a0.001), mild congestion (HR 4.291, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u00a0=\u00a0.009), and significant biopsy finding (HR 2.540, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u00a0=\u00a0.02) predicted inferior death\u2010censored graft survival. While the degree of elevation of LFTs was positively associated with significant biopsy findings, the discrimination was poor (AUC\u00a0.572\u2013.622). Combined LFTs and clinical risk factors remained suboptimal for discriminating significant biopsy findings (AUC\u00a0.696).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title><jats:p>Our findings support the use of protocol liver biopsies after liver transplantation since they frequently revealed changes associated with long\u2010term outcomes, even when LFTs were normal.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1111\/ctr.15286","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,20]],"date-time":"2024-03-20T06:49:50Z","timestamp":1710917390000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Protocol liver biopsy predicts graft survival after liver transplantation"],"prefix":"10.1111","volume":"38","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0009-9424-4885","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ville H.","family":"Liukkonen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Gastroenterology North Karelia Central Hospital  Joensuu Finland"},{"name":"Faculty of Medicine University of Helsinki  Helsinki Finland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5446-0972","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Arno J.","family":"Nordin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Transplantation and liver surgery Helsinki University Hospital  Helsinki Finland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0250-8559","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Martti A.","family":"F\u00e4rkkil\u00e4","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine University of Helsinki  Helsinki Finland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0455-9891","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tuomas K.","family":"Mirtti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine University of Helsinki  Helsinki 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