Portacaval shunt and inferior vena cava preservation in orthotopic liver transplantation

The aim was to study the advantages of the use of a temporary portacaval shunt (PCS) with inferior vena cava (IVC) preservation during the piggyback technique for the anhepatic phase of orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) performed in cirrhotic patients. Two groups of cirrhotic patients who underwent OLT with piggyback technique were compared; one with a PCS (n = 57) and the other, without PCS (n = 54). Patients with fulminant hepatitis, retransplantation, portal thrombosis, and previous portosystemic shunts were excluded. In both groups graft reperfusion was achieved by simultaneous arterial and venous revascularization. Donor, recipient, and surgical characteristics were similar in both groups. The PCS group had a significantly higher portal venous flow (PVF) than the no-PCS group (773 +/- 402 mL/min vs 555 +/- 379 mL/min, P = .004). Therefore, two subgroups were studied; the high PVF subgroup A (>800 mL/min), mean 1099 +/- 261 mL/min, and the low PVF subgroup B (<800 mL/min), mean 433 +/- 423 mL/min. Subgroup A, who were treated with PCS, required fewer blood transfusions and displayed better postoperative renal function; whereas, no differences were observed among subgroup B patients with versus without PCS. In conclusion, the use of a temporary PCS with piggyback technique during OLT in cirrhotics has advantages in patients who still maintain a high portal venous flow.     

Replacement of the retrohepatic vena cava in segmental liver transplantation

Reduced grafts represent an important technical development in paediatric liver transplantation. The use of a left lateral segment graft has required preservation of the native inferior vena cava to “piggy-back” the graft onto it. We report four children who underwent left lateral segment transplantation with caval replacement using the donor iliac vein because the native retrohepatic inferior vena cava was small, friable or difficult to preserve. There were no caval or hepatic vein complications post-transplant and the donor iliac vein proved to be a satisfactory interpositional graft. The technique offers the advantages of a wider retrohepatic cava avoiding venous outflow or caval obstruction, provides good tissue to suture and is well suited for the triangulation technique of the left hepatic vein. Received: 24 January 1997 Received after revision: 20 June 1997 Accepted: 30 June 1997     

Orthotopic liver transplantation with preservation of the inferior vena cava.

Piggyback orthotopic liver transplantation was performed in 24 patients during a period of 4 months. This represented 19% of the liver transplantation at our institution during that time. The piggyback method of liver insertion compared favorably with the standard operation in terms of patient survival, blood loss, incidence of vascular and biliary complications, and rate of retransplantation. The piggyback operation cannot be used in all cases, but when indicated and feasible its advantages are important enough to warrant its inclusion in the armamentarium of the liver transplant surgeon.     

Feasibility of hanging maneuvers in orthotopic liver transplantation with inferior vena cava preservation and in liver surgery

Background/Purpose The aim of this work was to study the feasibility and complication rates of liver hanging maneuvers: the Belghiti liver hanging maneuver (BLHM) in liver resection and the modified liver hanging maneuver (MLHM) in orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) with inferior vena cava (IVC) preservation.Methods From January 2001 to August 2003, BLHM was planned in 26 consecutive right hepatectomies and MLHM in 28 consecutive OLTs with IVC preservation.Results BLHM was performed in 24/26 patients (92%). In the 2 remaining patients, chronic biliary infection (n = 1) and intraparenchymal hemorrhagic hepatocellular carcinoma (n = 1) did not allow BLHM to be achieved. Bleeding during the BLHM procedure occurred in 1 patient (4%), with no need for interruption. MLHM was performed in all 28 patients, and in none of them was bleeding observed during the maneuver.Conclusions BLHM and MLHM are important technical refinements with several advantages. Feasibility rates were 92% and 100%, respectively. Bleeding risk remained low (4%) for BLHM and was 0% for MLHM. The rate of BLHM failure suggests that the feasibility rate may be higher in normal liver parenchyma.     

Hepato-venous reconstruction in orthotopic liver transplantation with preservation of the recipients' inferior vena cava and veno-venous bypass

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The potential advantages of vena cava-preserving recipient hepatectomy in orthotopic liver transplantation are reduced hemorrhage, improved cardiovascular stability and preserved renal perfusion without the requirement of veno-venous bypass as compared with recipient hepatectomy including the vena cava. No detailed information is available on the use of veno-venous bypass during complicated vena cava preserving recipient hepatectomy and liver transplantation. In the present study, the peri- and postoperative courses of adult liver transplant recipients in whom the hepatovenous reconstruction was performed according to three different techniques with and without the use of veno-venous bypass were investigated. PATIENTS/METHODS: During primary orthotopic liver transplantation, an end-to-end (ETE) cavo-caval interposition of the donor vena cava to the recipient's vena cava was performed in 75 patients (group I). In 15 patients, a termino-terminal piggyback (PB) anastomosis was constructed to the remnant of the recipient's hepatic vein (group II), and in 72 transplantations a latero-lateral cavo-cavostomy (LLC) of donor-to-recipient's vena cava (group III) was performed. The use of bypass, operative time and cold ischemia time, perioperative blood product requirements, incidence of relaparotomy, the evolution of postoperative renal function, technical complications and the survival were analyzed and compared using multivariate statistics and actuarial techniques for statistical evaluation. RESULTS: No differences could be found in preoperative patient conditions, donor conditions, operating time, anastomosing time or cold ischemia time. In groups I-III, the veno-venous bypass was used in 50 (67%), 8 (53%) and 6 (8%) cases respectively (P=0.02 for group III). The mean preoperative packed cells requirements were 20.4 vs 29.6 vs 10.8 units (P=0.01 for group III), while postoperative blood product requirements (first 24 h) were 2.6 vs 5.0 vs 0.20 units of packed cells (P=0.02 for group III). Relaparotomy for diffuse retroperitoneal hemorrhage was performed 14 times (19%) in group I, 3 times (20%) in group II and 7 times (8.3%) in group III (P=0.002). The incidence of posteropative early renal dysfunction (increase of > or =1.3 mg% serum creatinine) in group I vs group II vs group III was 24% vs 60% vs 16.7% (P=0.001 for group II) for patients without the use of veno-venous bypass. No significant difference was observed concerning early renal dysfunction in patients where a veno-venous bypass was used. The survival at 12 months was 81% for group I, 86% for group II and 93.0% for group III. In group III there were four complications (P=0.03) at the hepatovenous anastomosis of which two were eventually fatal. CONCLUSION: Preservation of the recipient's vena cava and LLC can reduce, but not avoid, the requirement for veno-venous bypass. In orthotopic liver transplantation, postoperative hemorrhage, as measured by surgical revisions and requirement for blood products, is significantly reduced with LLC with and without bypass. Early renal dysfunction also occurs in the group of LLC as compared with the termino-terminal cavostomy independent of the bypass. A technical failure resulting in patient death can be associated with LLC.     

Modified liver hanging maneuver during orthotopic liver transplantation with inferior vena cava preservation: results after 120 consecutive applications

The outflow venovenous anastomosis represent a crucial aspect during orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) with inferior vena cava (IVC) preservation. The modified Belghiti liver hanging maneuver applied to the last phase of hepatectomy, lifting the liver, provides a better exposure of the suprahepatic region and allows easier orthogonal clamping of the three suprahepatic veins with a minimal portion of IVC occlusion. The outflow anastomosis constructed with a common cloacae of the three native suprahepatic veins is associated with a lower incidence of graft related venous outflow complications. The procedure planned in 120 consecutive OLT was achieved in 118 (99%). The outflow anastomosis was constructed on the common cloaca of the three hepatic veins in 111/120 cases (92.5%). No major complications were observed (bleeding during tunnel creation, graft outflow dysfunction, etc) except in one patient with acute Budd-Chiari, who successfully underwent retransplantation.     

附加腔静脉成形的背驮式原位肝移植术

目的　探讨腔静脉成形术在背驮式原位肝移植中的应用价值及在防止移植肝流出道阻塞并发症中的作用。方法　 3例终末期肝病病人选为肝移植受者。供肝的下腔静脉及受体的肝后下腔静脉 (包括肝静脉 )均作了成形术 ,在单独股 -腋静脉转流术下行改良背驮式肝移植术。结果　 3例病人术中均较平稳 ,手术时间和无肝期缩短 ,出血量减少 ,术后肝功能恢复快 ,恢复顺利 ,无并发症发生。结论　腔静脉成形术可防止背驮式肝移植肝静脉流出道阻塞 ,术中对受体的血流动力学干扰小 ,并可缩短无肝期和减少腔静脉梗阻并发症的发生。     

原位肝移植术后下腔静脉狭窄的诊治

目的：总结原位肝移植术后下腔静脉狭窄的诊治经验,方法：总结51例原位肝移植术后3例下腔静脉狭窄的临床资料。结果：本组下腔静脉狭窄发生率为5．8％（3／51）,3例均为肝后段下腔静脉狭窄,均发生在术后1个月内,均经超声检查及下腔静脉造影证实,经皮腔内腔静脉气囊扩张或放置内支架后,血流恢复通畅,下肢水肿消失,例1术后第14d死于脑出血,例2和例3恢复顺利,肝功能良好,现已分别存活18个月,4个月,经彩超检查证实下腔静脉血流通畅。结论：经皮腔血管成形术及放置血管内支架治疗肝移植术后早期下腔静狭窄安全可靠,近期疗效满意。     

Resection and reconstruction of the retrohepatic vena cava in combination with liver resections

Liver resection combined with the resection and reconstruction of the vena cava represents the only potential curative therapy for malignant hepatic tumors with invasion of the vena cava. We performed a liver resection with segmental replacement of the retrohepatic vena cava by synthetic grafts in 29 patients. In three cases, the additional presence of central involvement of all three hepatic veins required ex situ tumor resection. Four patients underwent a simultaneous exstirpation of the primary tumor (kidney or suprarenals). The remaining hepatic veins were reimplanted into the graft in three cases, and in two cases the renal veins were reimplanted. There was no perioperative mortality. A distal arteriovenous fistula was not applied. Five patients revealed postoperative transient liver insufficiency, requiring temporary dialysis in three cases. Two of these patients developed a transient multiorgan failure with the need of mechanical ventilation. 18 patients died during the course of follow-up, 17 of these cases due to recurrent metastases of the primary disease. Infection or thrombosis of the prosthetic vascular graft have not been observed. Beside tumor exstirpation, extended liver resection and concomitant vena cava replacement may prevent embolism as well as the obstruction of the vena cava with lower extremity swelling and the possibility of developing a Budd Chiari syndrome. We were able to achieve a long-term survival for surgically treated patients even in cases with advanced tumor stages.     

肝移植术后下腔静脉功能不全的超声诊断

目的探讨肝移植术后下腔静脉(IVC)功能不全的彩色多普勒超声表现。方法应用彩色多普勒超声检查123例原位肝移植术后病人,观测项目包括:下腔静脉内径(IVCD)、血流通畅度、腔内回声、肝静脉内径(HVD)、峰值血流速度(HVV)、频谱形态等,并与100例正常人对照。结果123例病人中,114例IVC功能正常,9例(7.3％)确诊为IVC功能不全。IVC功能正常组、功能不全组和正常人组IVCD分别为(1.0±0.5)cm、(0.2±0.1)cm、(1.4±0.4)cm,组间比较差异显著(P<0.01)。IVC功能不全的超声表现为:(1)IVC内径<0.4 cm(9／9)。(2)IVC血流异常,包括内无血流信号(4／9),狭窄处局部高速湍流、狭窄前后血流速度明显减低(5／9)。(3)HV血流异常:HV单相血流(8／9),HV扩张(4／9),HV血流减慢(4／9)。(4)其他由于IVC功能不全引起的表现:门静脉逆流(2／9),肾脏肿大(5／9),肾静脉血流减慢(5／9)。移植术后IVC功能不全的最重要超声表现是IVCD<0．4 cm+HV单向血流+IVC内无血流信号或局部高速湍流,HV扩张的检出可使IVC功能不全诊断的特异性提高。结论肝移植术后病人IVC较正常人狭窄,但IVC内径>0.4 cm时并不发生IVC功能不全,IVCD<0.4 cm+HV单向血流+IVC内无血流信号或局部高速湍流是超声诊断IVC功能不全的重要指标。     

Suprahepatic venacavaplasty (cavaplasty) with retrohepatic cava extension in liver transplantation: experience with first 115 cases.

BACKGROUND: We first introduced the orthotopic liver transplantation utilizing cavaplasty technique in 1994. This paper describes the surgical technique and assesses the outcome of the cavaplasty OLT. METHODS: The cavaplasty procedure was used in 115 consecutive orthotopic liver transplantations, including six left lateral and two right lobe transplantations, between November 1994 and September 2000. Fifty-three (66.3%) transplantations required femoro-axillary veno-venous bypass in the initial 4 years, whereas only eight (22.9%) needed VB in the subsequent 2 years. Conversion to piggyback or standard technique was not necessary in any patient. RESULTS: Median results are as follows: operative time 4.5 hr, warm ischemia time 25 min, and blood transfused (packed red blood cells) 6 units. These findings did not differ between first transplantation and retransplantation. There were no perioperative deaths related to the cavaplasty technique. No hepatic venous outflow obstruction was observed, including living-related OLTs. No patient required postoperative hemodialysis for acute renal failure. The median intensive care and hospital stays were 2 days and 10 days, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The cavaplasty technique requires no retrocaval, hepatic vein, or short hepatic vein dissection, and the inferior vena cava can be preserved, which provides advantages for hepatectomy and easy hemostasis, especially during retransplantation. The wide-open triangular caval anastomosis is easy to perform, allowing short implantation time and size matching and avoiding outflow obstruction. The short implantation time reduces the need for veno-venous bypass. Our experience indicates that the cavaplasty technique can be applied to all patients and is justified by minimal technical complications.     

原位肝移植术后血管并发症的早期诊断八例报告

目的 探讨原位肝移植术后血管并发症的监测和早期诊断,方法 回顾分析了本院53例原位肝移植术后血管并发症的监测和诊断方法,包括术后连续动态彩色多普勒超声检查、选择性血管造影及相关的临床特征观察,结果 本组15%（8/53）的患者出现了血管并发症;肝动脉血栓形成3例,肝动脉狭窄2例,腹腔动脉狭窄1例,下腔静脉狭窄2例（其中1例经尸体检查证实）,其余7例经选择性血管造影证实,彩色多普勒超声诊断血管并发症的灵敏度和特异度分别为100%（8/8）和98%（45/46）。结论 肝移植术后血管并发症的临床表现缺乏特异性,连续动态的彩色多普勒超声检查是监测和诊断血管并发症敏感且特异的方法,术后监测时间不应少于2个月,在临床表现与彩色多普勒超声出现血管并发症的可疑征象时,应及时行血管造影检查进一步明确诊断。     

Novel technique for suprahepatic vena cava reconstruction in rat orthotopic liver transplantation

In previous studies, the suture technique and the cuff method were applied to anastomoses of the suprahepatic vena cava (SHVC) in rat orthotopic liver transplantation. However, the anastomosis of SHVC is difficult during transplantation because of the short length of the SHVC. Here, we developed a novel method for anastomoses of SHVC, using a veno-lined stent technique. The veno-lined stent for SHVC anastomosis was prepared after the donor operation. The special veno-lined stent was a 4.0-mm-long polythene tube in which a venous segment from the donor was lined. During the recipient operation, the donor SHVC was anastomosed end-to-end to the recipient SHVC, using the veno-lined stent. Anastomoses of the portal vein and infrahepatic vena cava were performed using a cuff technique. Continuity of the bile duct was established using a stent. The hepatic artery was ligated, and the graft was not arterialized. As controls, the unlined stent, the suture technique, and the cuff method were also used for SHVC anastomoses, respectively, as three control groups with the identical procedures above. In total, 30 orthotopic liver isografts were performed using the veno-lined stent technique. The survival rate was 90% (27/30) after 1 week and 70% (21/30) after 2 months, with normal hepatocellular function. The SHVC anastomosis using a veno-lined stent took 10 +/- 2 (mean +/- SD) min. The anhepatic phase, recipient operative time, and complete operation time were about 14 +/- 2 min, 40 +/- 5 min, and 120 +/- 10 min, respectively. However, in the nonlined stent control group, a total of 20 orthotopic liver isografts used the nonlined stent for SHVC anastomoses, and all failed because of venous thrombosis in SHVC; none survived over 1 week. In the suture technique control group, 40 orthotopic liver isografts were performed using a suture technique for SHVC anastomoses. The results showed no significant difference with those of the veno-lined stent method. But in the cuff method control group, of all 20 orthotopic liver isografts performed using the cuff method for SHVC anastomoses, 10 failed because of failed ligation on the anastomostic site. The survival rates at 1 week and 2 months postoperatively were significantly different from those of the veno-lined stent method. The veno-lined stent technique provides a novel, simple, and reliable method for SHVC anastomoses. It avoids bleeding during suture and the ligation difficulties found with the cuff method. The operation's success rate is satisfactory. This model is successful, and could be applied in various experimental studies.