Study: Cardio Risk Factors Lower Five Years After Liver Transplant

While cardiovascular risk factors for liver transplant recipients are higher in the first years after their surgery, the risk factors are no greater than those of the general population by five years after transplantation, according to Spanish researchers.

The researchers, reporting in the journal Transplant International on their study of 116 stable liver transplant recipients who had survived for at least five years, speculated that the reduction over time in hypertension, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia might be linked to the tapering off of steroids.

The researchers also reported that patients taking cyclosporine as their primary anti-rejection medication had a higher prevalence of hypertension, hypercholesterolemia and hyperhomocysteinemia than those taking Prograf.

"We conclude that the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in liver transplant patients after 5 years or more is lower that found in the first years after the transplantation, and no different from that found within the Spanish population," the researchers reported.

Other sources: Transplant International