Cognitive abilities, behaviour and quality of life in children after liver transplantation

Kaller T, Boeck A, Sander K, Richterich A, Burdelski M, Ganschow R, Schulz KH. Cognitive abilities, behaviour and quality of life in children after liver transplantation. Pediatr Transplantation 2010: 14:496–503. © 2010 John Wiley & Sons A/S. : Aims: We investigated interrelations between cognitive abilities, behavioural problems, quality of life and disease‐related variables of children after LTX. Methods: Our sample consisted of 25 children. They were 8.5/2.8 (M/SD) years old and had received the transplant 5.5/3.1 years previously. For assessment we used well‐established instruments. Results: Liver transplanted children scored below the population mean on the cognitive as well as on the behavioural instrument and showed scores below average in the scales Self‐esteem, Friends and Total Score regarding QoL. Behavioural problems were associated with poorer cognitive performance (r=−0.38 to −0.63). QoL regarding physical well‐being was correlated with sequential processing (r=0.41). Lower sequential processing scores were associated with lower QoL. Also between behavioural parameters and QoL correlations could be determined. Children with more behavioural problems experienced lower QoL (r=−0.40 to r=−0.76). Age at onset of disease showed correlations with behavioural and QoL parameters (r=−0.49 resp. r=0.44). Cognitive functioning was associated with medical complications (r=−0.44). Conclusions: High interrelations between cognitive functioning, behavioural deficits and QoL were obtained. Especially noticeable are correlations between sequential processing and internalized behavioural functions as both are associated with left lateralized brain functioning. This relationship could indicate differential effects on brain development during the preoperative phase.