''Minimizing tacrolimus'' strategy and long-term survival after liver transplantation

Table 1 Clinical characteristics of 235 consecutive liver transplant patients

Variables		Value
Age (yr)		47.11 ± 11.32
MELD score		16 (range 6-50)
Child score		9 (range 5-15)
Gender	Male	203 (86.4)
	Female	32 (13.6)
Etiology	HBV-related	140 (59.6)
	Hepatocarcinoma	55 (23.4)
	Others	40 (17)
Blood tests	Bilirubin (μmol/L) (NR < 17.1)	162.73 ± 205.39
	AST (IU/L) (NR < 50)	240.46 ± 556.16
	ALT (IU/L) (NR < 40)	183.2 ± 325.93
	Albumin (g/L) (NR 35-50)	34.96 ± 5.47
	WBC (× 109/L) (NR 3.5-11)	5.96 ± 4.58
	Urea (mmol/L) (NR 3-7.1)	6.70 ± 5.29
	Creatinine (μmol/L) (NR 60-97)	94.37 ± 68.98
TC		7.91 ± 2.28
ABO	A-A	85 (36.2)
	B-B	51 (21.7)
	O-O	87 (37)
	AB-AB	12 (5.1)

Data are expressed as absolute numbers (percentage) or mean ± SD. NR: Normal range; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; WBC: White blood cell; HBV: Hepatitis B virus.

Table 2 Clinical Fk506-related side effects and cause of death

	All events (n)	First events only (n)
Rejection	38	20
Infection	55	26
Renal insufficiency	7	2
Tumor recurrence	36	18
Metabolic disorder	34	21
Cause of death
MODS	11
Tumor recurrence	22
Graft loss	3
Others	11

MODS: Multiple organ dysfunction syndrome.

Table 3 Classification of groups according to mean tacrolimus concentration, death rate and related side effects in respective categories

Group	1	2	3	4
TC interval (ng/mL)	0-5	5-7	7-10	10-15
Total number	21	57	119	38
Number of death	8	9	23	7
Cause of death
MODS	4	4	2	1
Tumor recurrence	2	4	13	3
Graft loss	1	1	0	1
Others	1	0	8	2
Rejection	2	14	16	6
Infection	6	14	24	11
Renal insufficiency	2	2	2	1
Tumor recurrence	5	7	19	5
Metabolic disorder	6	8	15	5

MODS: Multiple organ dysfunction syndrome; TC: Tacrolimus concentration.

Table 4 Classification of groups according to standard deviation of Tacrolimus concentration, death rate and related side effects in respective categories

Group	1	2	3
SD interval	0-2	2-4	> 4
Total number	21	118	96
Number of death	7	18	22
Cause of death
MODS	4	4	3
Tumor recurrence	2	7	13
Graft loss	0	2	1
Others	1	5	5
Rejection	1	21	16
Infection	5	25	25
Renal insufficiency	0	6	1
Tumor recurrence	3	14	19
Metabolic disorder	2	20	12

MODS: Multiple organ dysfunction syndrome; SD: Standard deviation.

Table 5 Variables in multivariate Cox regression equation of long-term survival

	B	SE	Wald	df	Sig.	Exp(B)	Lower	Upper
Gender	-0.809	0.352	5.284	1	0.022	0.445	0.224	0.888
Age	0.252	0.612	0.170	1	0.680	1.287	0.388	4.273
Plug score	0.640	0.364	3.093	1	0.079	1.897	0.929	3.870
Meld score	-0.281	0.266	1.113	1	0.291	0.755	0.448	1.272
Diagnosis	-0.351	0.162	4.691	1	0.030	0.704	0.512	0.967
SD of TC	0.345	0.153	5.063	1	0.024	1.412	1.045	1.907
Mean TC	-0.960	0.397	5.830	1	0.016	0.383	0.176	0.835

SD: Standard deviation; TC: Tacrolimus concentration.