Arterial conduits for hepatic artery revascularisation in adult liver transplantation

Arterial complications after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT), including hepatic artery thrombosis (HAT), are important causes of early graft failure. The use of an arterial conduit is an accepted alternative to the utilisation of native recipient hepatic artery for specific indications. This study aims to determine the efficacy of arterial conduits and the outcome in OLT. We retrospectively reviewed 1,575 cadaveric adult OLTs and identified those in which an arterial conduit was used for hepatic revascularisation. Data on the primary disease, indication for using arterial conduit, type of vascular graft, operative technique and outcome were obtained. Thirty-six (2.3%) patients underwent OLT in which arterial conduits were used for hepatic artery (HA) revascularisation. Six of these were performed on the primary transplant, while the rest (n=30) were performed in patients undergoing re-transplantation, including six who had developed hepatic artery aneurysms. The incidence of arterial conduits was 0.4% (6/1,426 cases) in all primary OLTs and 20.1% (30/149 cases) in all re-transplants. Twenty-nine procedures utilised iliac artery grafts from the same donor as the liver, six used iliac artery grafts from a different donor, and a single patient underwent a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) graft. Two techniques were used: infra-renal aorto-hepatic artery conduit and interposition between the donor and recipient native HAs, or branches of the HAs. The 30-day mortality rate for operations using an arterial conduit was 30.6%. Three conduits thrombosed at 9, 25 and 155 months, respectively, but one liver graft survived without re-transplantation. The arterial conduits had 1- and 5-year patency rates of 88.5% and 80.8%. The 1- and 5-year patient survival rates were 66.7% and 44%. We can thus conclude that an arterial conduit is a viable alternative option for hepatic revascularisation in both primary and re-transplantation. Despite a lower patency rate than that of native HA in the primary OLT group, the outcomes of arterial conduit patency and patient survival rates are both acceptable at 1 and 5 years, especially in the much larger re-OLT group.     

Arterial vascular conduits in adult orthotopic liver transplant recipients

BACKGROUND: Vascular conduits may be required to gain arterial inflow to the donor hepatic artery in orthotopic liver transplantation. METHODS: From January 1986 to December 2003, arterial conduits were required in 31/582 (5.3%) adult liver transplant procedures. RESULTS: Indications for the conduit included recipient hepatic artery problems (20); hepatic artery thrombosis previous allograft (7) and other (4). The conduits used in 28/31 cases (90%) were deceased donor iliac arteries and the remainder prosthetic grafts. Patients requiring conduits were more likely to be already hospitalized (P = 0.038) or undergoing a retransplant procedure (P = 0.001) than patients not requiring conduits. Both sepsis and haemorrhage caused death in 8/31 (26%) patients requiring conduits versus 42/551 (7.6%) patients not requiring conduits. Death from thrombosis of the iliac artery conduit occurred in two cases and from bacterial infection of a prosthetic conduit in one case. For retransplant procedures, allograft loss was seen in 11/13 (84%) conduit cases versus 11/28 (39%) non-conduit cases (P = 0.016). Overall allograft survival was significantly lower in the conduit cases than in the non-conduit cases (P = 0.0001), with 12/31 (39%) allografts being lost within the first 3 months post-transplantation for the conduit cases. CONCLUSION: Arterial vascular conduits are more commonly required in adult liver transplant recipients who are hospitalized or undergoing retransplant procedures. Allograft survival is poorer in the conduit cases and is associated with complications, particularly sepsis and haemorrhage, following retransplantation procedures.     

Significance of steatosis in pancreatic transplantation

The on-going success of whole organ pancreatic transplantation is dependent on overcoming the imbalance between demand and supply of optimal organs as well as tackling the vast comorbidity associated with the procedure. Pancreas steatosis is a common contributing factor to the problem and with obesity pandemics affecting the global population; the size and type of organs received from donors will only make steatosis more of an issue.The aim of this review is to highlight what is known about steatosis in the context of pancreas transplantation identifying potential methods to help its evaluation. Narrative review of literature from inception to June 2017, using OVID interface searching EMBASE and MEDLINE databases as well recent transplant conference data. All studies related to pancreas steatosis examined for clinical relevance with no exclusion criteria. Key ideas extracted and referenced.Pancreatic steatosis is not innocuous and is precariously regarded by transplant surgeons, however its associations with obesity, metabolic syndrome and long list of associated complications clearly show it needs more careful consideration. Radiologic and surgical advances now allow assessment of the fat content of organs, which could be used to quantify organs allowing better optimisation, but there is still much work to be done to refine the optimal method to achieve this.     

成人原位肝移植动脉重建

肝动脉栓塞(hepatic artery thrombosis,HAT)和肝动脉狭窄(hepatic artery stenosis,HAS)是影响移植肝转归的严重动脉并发症。HAS是与吻合技术有关的吻合口狭窄,其发生率约4.8%[1],而成人HAT发生率报道不一,为2%~12%[2,3],一旦发生,若未及时诊断处理,将引起移植肝失功能,肝坏死、胆漏、继发感染,甚至到死亡的严重后果,往往导致再次肝移植。HAT病因有供肝保存技术以及CMV感染、免疫排斥反应、凝血功能异常等众多非外科因素,但动脉重建的外科手术因素仍是HAT发生的最重要原因[4]。本文就肝移植动脉重建方式,显微外科技术的应用,及近…     

肝移植治疗肝肺综合征26例疗效分析

目的探讨肝移植对肝肺综合征（hepatopulmonarysyndrome,HPS）的疗效及HPS患者肝移植围手术期的管理经验。方法回顾性分析2004年3月至2006年1月中山大学附属第三医院肝移植中心行肝移植治疗26例HPS患者的临床资料,观察HPS患者肝移植术后的存活率、低氧血症的治愈率及术后并发症情况。结果HPS患者肝移植术后动脉氧分压随肝功能的好转逐步改善,99mTc大聚合白蛋白肺灌注扫描显示肺分流率明显下降。HPS患者肝移植术后28d的存活率为76．92％（20／26）,1年存活率为61．54％（16／26）,4年存活率为57．69％（15／26）。HPS患者肝移植术后肺部感染的发生率较高,为53．85％（14／26）;其他并发症包括术中术后大出血、伤口迁延不愈并感染、脑出血、高钠血症并高渗透压血症、肾功能障碍、多器官功能衰竭等。结论肝移植可有效延长HPS患者的存活时间和提高存活率,对HPS患者应根据其病理生理特点加强围手术期管理。     

Biliary tract complications in orthotopic adult liver transplantation

In a series of orthotopic liver transplantations performed between April and August 1987 at the University of Pittsburgh, the monofilament absorbable suture polyglyconate was compared with a braided absorbable suture, polyglactin 910, for its biliary complication rate over a 6-month postoperative period. Complications that were suture-related (obstruction or leak from the anastomotic site) occurred in 1 of 21 transplantations in the polyglyconate group compared with 8 of 26 in the polyglactin 910 group (p = 0.02). Even though the patient sample was relatively small, it appears that the type of suture used for the biliary anastomosis directly correlates with the outcome. A larger patient trial could confirm these initial results.     

成人肝移植中的肝动脉搭桥术——澳大利亚 Australia National Liver Transplant Unit的经验

目的 介绍澳大利亚国家肝移植中心在成人肝移植中应用肝动脉搭桥术的经验。方法 对澳大利亚国家肝移植中心（Australia National Liver Transplant Unit，ANLTU）1986—2003年的31例行肝动脉搭桥的成人肝移植结果进行回顾行分析。31例需行肝动脉搭桥的原因有微小受者肝动脉、肝动脉血栓症、肝门严重粘连、肝动脉壁间动脉瘤、真菌性肝动脉瘤及前次植入肝的肝动脉因胆道出血而结扎。18例为首次移植，13例为再次或多次肝移植。结果 术后15例（48．4％）存活，平均存活时间为4．1年，16例（51．6％）死亡，平均存活时间为34．56d。两次和多次肝移植者的死亡率为76．9％，首次肝移植者的死亡率为33．3％（P〈0．05）。因肝动脉血栓症而搭桥者的死亡率最高，其次为肝门严重粘连者。死亡原因依次为败血症、围手术期大出血、颅内出血、肝动脉血栓形成、排斥反应、原发病复发以及心跳骤停。结论 成人肝移植行肝动脉搭桥的适应证主要是各种原因导致的受者肝动脉不适用，或因肝门部严重粘连而无法解剖者；患者术后转归与肝移植的次数及患者的术前状况有关。     

Risk factors for metabolic syndrome after liver transplantation: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Introduction

Metabolic syndrome is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular events, which contributes to the elevated mortality rate among liver transplant recipients. The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to assess the prevalence and risk factors for metabolic syndrome after liver transplantation.

Anesthetic experience in adult and pediatric orthotopic liver transplantation

The authors report their experience with orthotopic liver transplantation in 8 adults and 6 children operated during a 14 months period. The anesthetic technique is described and three points of it are underlined: Renal failure is prevented by a systematic low-dose dopamine infusion added to optimal preloading and mannitol given during the anhepatic phase. Donor liver flush via the portal vein with lactated Ringer's solution is checked by serial measurements of K+ concentration in the fluid draining from the infrahepatic vena cava: the flush is assumed adequate if that K+ level is less than 10 mmoles/l. The risk of air embolism at the time of unclamping is minimized by discontinuing N2O, adding a mild PEEP and placing the patient in Trendelenburg position. The values of hemodynamic and metabolic measurements are given and discussed. There was no peroperative mortality.     

"Piggy back" adult orthotopic liver transplantation

In analogy to liver transplantation techniques developed in children, a method of adult liver grafting is described in which the recipient, intra- and retrohepatic, inferior vena cava is completely preserved.     

New method of stent-facilitated arterial reconstruction for orthotopic mouse liver transplantation

Background

Arterialized orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) in the mouse mimics human liver transplantation physiologically and clinically. The present method of sutured anastomosis for reconstruction of the hepatic artery is complex and is associated with high incidence of complications and failure. This makes the endpoint assessment of using this complex model difficult because of the many variables of the technical aspect.

Methods

A total of 14 pairs of donors and recipients from syngeneic male mice were used for arterialized OLT. The grafts were stored in University of Wisconsin solution at 4°C for less than 4 h, and the recipients underwent OLT using a two-cuff technique. The arterial reconstruction was facilitated by the use of a single stent connecting the donor liver artery segment to the recipient common hepatic artery.

Results

All 14 recipients survived with the time for arterial reconstruction ranging from 4–10 min. Patency of the artery was confirmed by transecting the artery near the graft 2 and 14 d after transplantation. At day 2, five of the six arteries transected were patent and at day 14, seven of the remaining eight were patent for an overall patency rate of 85.7%.

Conclusions

The stent-facilitated arterial reconstruction can be done quickly with a high patency rate. This model expands the translational research efforts to address marginal livers such as steatotic livers.     

The role of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 in orthotopic liver transplantation

Hepatic ischemia reperfusion injury as well as acute graft rejection (RE) after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) are associated with leukocyte invasion of the graft. Local synthesis of chemokines is a key reaction in the recruitment and activation of inflammatory leukocytes and consequent liver damage. In this paper we describe the role of monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1 (CCL2) in human OLT. We investigated the serum CC-chemokine levels for MCP-1 by specific ELISAs after OLT in 105 human liver allografts between September 1997 and January 2001. One hour after reperfusion we saw a significant (t test) increase of MCP-1 in peripheral blood (92.5 +/- 85.8 pg/mL to 774.2 +/- 319.6 pg/mL, 8.3-fold, P <.0001), hepatic venous blood (92.5 +/- 85.8 pg/mL to 866.7 +/- 376.1 pg/mL, 9.3-fold, P <.0001), and portal venous blood (92.5 +/- 85.8 pg/mL to 792.9 +/- 408.0 pg/mL, 8.5-fold, P < 0.0001) during hepatic ischemia reperfusion injury. An analysis of the correlation (Spearman's test, rs) between the expression of MCP-1 and the AST (rs 0.555, P <.025) and ALT (rs 0.852, P <.0001) showed a significant linear correlation. During RE a significant (t test) increase of MCP-1 (125.5 +/- 95.6 pg/mL to 188.5 +/- 124.6 pg/mL, 3.86-fold, P <.0001) was demonstrated. The successful treatment of the RE led again to a decline to lower base levels. Hepatic ischemia reperfusion syndrome as well as RE after OLT are characterized by typical patterns of CCL-2 overexpression. This finding proposes a new noninvasive, early diagnostic test after OLT.