Does ALT Correlate with Survival After Liver Resection for Colorectal Liver Metastases?

Background: The pringle manoeuvre is commonly used during hepatectomy, which may cause ischaemia-reperfusion injury and transient liver dysfunction. Post-operative liver transaminases are often used to assess ischaemia-reperfusion injury, although there is conflicting evidence on survival outcomes. The primary aim was to assess post-operative alanine aminotransferase (ALT) with survival outcomes. Secondary aims were to assess ALT level with the length of stay and overall complications. Methods: Post-operative day 2 ALT levels of five times the upper limit of normal (i.e. 280 U/L) were considered as clinically significant transaminitis. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were studied using log-rank analysis to identify the predictors of overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS). Results: Out of 752 patients who underwent hepatectomy, 527 (70.1%) patients had low ALT (<280 U/L) and 225 (29.9%) patients had high ALT on day 2 post-op. Post-operative ALT did not affect OS (P = 0.883) or RFS (P = 0.063). Factors associated with a worse OS and RFS on multivariate analysis were pre-operative chemotherapy, number of tumours and largest tumour size (>4 cm). A high post-operative ALT was not associated with the increased length of stay or more complications. Conclusions: Post-operative ALT does not affect survival outcomes post-hepatectomy for colorectal liver metastases. ( J CLIN EXP HEPATOL 2022;12:1285-1292)

Automated summary

The post-operative alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels do not have an impact on survival outcomes after hepatectomy for colorectal liver metastases. They are also not associated with the length of stay or overall complications.