AUTHOR=Liu Min , Zhu Zhijun , Sun Liying 

TITLE=Risk Factors of Invasive Fungal Infection in Recipients After Liver Transplantation: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Medicine

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/medicine/articles/10.3389/fmed.2021.687028

DOI=10.3389/fmed.2021.687028

ISSN=2296-858X

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Objectives:</bold> Invasive fungal infection (IFI) remains an important cause of mortality in liver transplantation (LT). The objective of this meta-analysis was to identify the risk factors for IFI after LT.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> We searched for relevant studies published up to June 2020 from PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and the Cochrane Library. Odds ratios (ORs) and their corresponding 95% CIs were used to identify significant differences in the risk factors. Heterogeneity between studies was evaluated by the <italic>I</italic><sup>2</sup> test, and potential publication bias was assessed with Egger's test. The quality of included studies was evaluated with the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS).</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> A total of 14 studies enrolling 4,284 recipients were included in the meta-analysis. Reoperation (OR = 2.18, 95% CI: 1.61–2.94), posttransplantation dialysis (OR = 2.03, 95% CI: 1.52–2.72), bacterial infection (OR = 1.81, 95% CI: 1.33–2.46), live donor (OR = 1.78, 95% CI: 1.20–2.63), retransplantation (OR = 2.45, 95% CI: 1.54–3.89), and fungal colonization (OR = 2.60, 95% CI: 1.99–3.42) were associated with the risk factors of IFI after LT.</p><p><bold>Conclusions:</bold> Despite some risk factors that have been identified as significant factors for IFI post-LT, which may inform prevention recommendations, rigorous and well-designed studies with adequate sample sizes should be conducted to solve the limitations of this study.</p>