Adult respiratory distress syndrome secondary to end-stage liver disease—successful outcome following liver transplantation

The adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) com­plicating liver failure carries a 100% mortality. Two cases of ARDS that resolved following liver transplantation have been reported, one associated with acute allograft rejection, and the second due to sepsis. There is, however, a great reluctance to transplant these very-high-risk patients. We report the first series of patients with ARDS secondary to liver failure who successfully underwent OLTX. No patient had sepsis or pneumonia. Posttransplant mechanical ventilation was required for a median of 14 days (range 6-37 days). All patients in this series are alive and well, with a follow-up of 6-15 months. This demonstrates that ARDS associated with liver failure, an otherwise uniformly lethal complica­tion, can respond dramatically to OLTX.