Objective To explore the causes and prognosis of liver retransplantation. Methods The clinical data of 215 cases who had underwent liver retransplantation in Tianjin First Central Hospital between Nov. 26th 2003 and May. 26th 2012 were analyzed retrospectively for its causes and prognosis. Results Two hundreds and fifteen cases were enrolled， including 200 cases of 2 times liver transplantation， 14 cases of 3 times liver transplantation， and 1 case of 4 times liver transplantation. The major causes of the second liver transplantation were biliary complication （53.5%， 115/215） and primary non-function or dysfunction of liver graft （8.4%， 18/215）， and the major causes of the third liver transplantation were biliary complication （5/14） and hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence （2/14）. The liver graft survival rate of late liver retransplantation （at least 1 month after operation） was significantly higher than that of early liver retrans-plantation （less than 1 month after operation） for the second liver transplantation （P=0.005）. The liver graft survival rate of the second liver transplantation was significantly higher than that of the third liver transplantation （P=0.043）. Compared with biliary complication， cases of hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence （P=0.001） and primary non-function or dysfunction of liver graft （P=0.033） had lower graft survival rates， while cases of chronic failure of liver graft had a higher survival rate （P=0.037）. Conclusions Biliary complication is the main cause of liver retransplantation. The liver retransplantations which are performed less than 1 month after prior liver transplantation result in a relative low survival rate in reason of the increase of perioperative death. The prognosis of liver retransplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence is unacceptable， while cases of chronic failure of liver graft have optimal prognosis.