Inexplicable Outcome of Early Appearance of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in the Allograft After Deceased Donor Liver Transplantation: A Case Report

• This case represents the earliest appearance of de novo HCC after OLT compared with cases of previously reported literatures.
• This recipient obtained a liver from a healthy young donor who was HCV and HBV negative.
• Nine months after OLT, s CT scan was performed due to abdominal pain, detecting a mass occupying the right lobe that depicted enhanced characteristics typical of HCC.

BackgroundThis case represents the earliest appearance of de novo HCC after liver transplantation (OLT) compared with cases of previously reported literatures.Case ReportA 45-year-old man underwent deceased donor OLT owing to decompensated liver cirrhosis. He had YMDD viral mutation and hepatitis B (HBV) and C (HCV) coinfection but no tumor was found in the liver on MRI before OLT. The donor was a healthy young female donor who was HCV and HBV negative. There was no tumor in the explant liver. After OLT, HCV RNA and hepatitis B surface antigen became undetectable with DNA-positive HBV. Nine months after OLT, a computed tomography (CT) scan was performed owing to abdominal pain, detecting a mass occupying the right lobe that depicted enhanced characteristics typical of HCC. The chest CT demonstrated metastatic lung nodules in the right basal lower lobe. Fluorescence in situ hybridization showed tumor cells from the recipient.ConclusionsTo the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of de novo hepatocellular carcinoma that has emerged within a short period of undergoing OLT.