Safety Net kidney after liver transplantation: unexpected renal recovery in a liver transplant recipient after more than 10 months on maintenance hemodialysis – a case report

TL;DR

A liver transplant patient unexpectedly regained kidney function after over 10 months of dialysis, challenging assumptions about recovery timelines.

Contribution

This case report demonstrates that kidney recovery is possible in liver transplant recipients even after prolonged dialysis dependence.

Findings

A liver transplant recipient recovered kidney function after more than 10 months on dialysis.

The patient's pre-transplant acute kidney injury was attributed to hepatorenal syndrome with or without acute tubular necrosis.

This case challenges the belief that dialysis dependence beyond 6 months precludes renal recovery.

Abstract

The incidence and likelihood of kidney function recovery in liver transplant recipients with acute kidney injury (AKI) due to hepatorenal syndrome (HRS) or acute tubular necrosis (ATN) requiring maintenance dialysis remain undefined. Nonetheless, it has been suggested that dependence on dialysis for more than 6 months diminishes the likelihood of renal function recovery. We report a liver transplant recipient with pre-transplantation AKI attributed to HRS with or without ATN who recovered kidney function after more than 10 months on dialysis.

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