ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND:

Therapeutic options to treat progression of end-stage liver disease (ESLD) or improve long-term survival after liver transplantation remain scarce. We investigated the impact of coffee consumption under these conditions.

METHODS:

We recorded coffee consumption habits of 379 patients with ESLD awaiting liver transplantation and 260 patients after liver transplantation. Survival was analyzed based on coffee intake.

RESULTS:

195 patients with ESLD consumed coffee on a daily basis, while 184 patients did not. Actuarial survival was impaired (p = 0.041) in non-coffee drinkers (40.4 ± 4.3 months, 95% CI: 32.0-48.9) compared to coffee drinkers (54.9 ± 5.5 months, 95% CI: 44.0-65.7). In subgroup analysis, the survival of patients with alcoholic liver disease (ALD; p = 0.020) and primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC; p = 0.017) was increased with coffee intake, while unaffected in patients with chronic viral hepatitis (p = 0.517) or other liver disease entities (p = 0.652). Multivariate analysis showed that coffee consumption of PSC and ALD patients retained as an independent risk factor (OR: 1.94; 95% CI: 1.15-3.28; p = 0.013) along with MELD-Score (OR: 1.13; 95% CI: 1.09-1.17; p = 0.000). Following liver transplantation, long-term survival was longer in coffee drinkers (coffee: 61.8 ± 2.0 months, 95% CI: 57.9-65.8) than non-drinkers (52.3 ± 3.5 months, 95% CI: 45.4-59.3; p = 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS:

Coffee consumption delayed disease progression in ALD and PSC patients with ESLD and increased long-term survival after liver transplantation. We conclude that regular coffee intake might be recommended for these patients.