Comparison of hepatic artery and portal vein reperfusion during orthotopic liver transplantation.

BACKGROUND: During orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT), it is standard procedure to reperfuse the liver via the portal vein (PV) despite having a lower oxygen content and perfusion pressure than the hepatic artery (HA). There are no published studies that describe graft function and outcome when the HA is used for reperfusion. We report a retrospective comparison of graft outcome after HA or PV reperfusion when the piggyback technique was used. METHODS: We identified 26 patients who had undergone OLT with HA reperfusion and 26 patients reperfused via the PV. Demographics, primary diagnosis, surgeon, warm and cold ischemic times, and blood product use were recorded. In each patient, whole blood lactate concentration, prothrombin time (PT), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) were measured at defined time points during and after surgery as indices of graft lactate metabolism, synthetic function, and reperfusion injury, respectively. Thirty-day and 1-year outcome data were recorded. Data were compared between the HA and PV groups. RESULTS: Demographics, blood product use, primary diagnosis, cold ischemic time, and surgeon were similar between the groups. Warm ischemic time was longer in the HA group (mean SD] HA 51.2 14.7], PV 40 9.1] min, P=0.002). Blood lactate concentrations were similar at all time points. There was no difference in 24-hr postoperative PT between the groups (median InterQuartile (IQ) range] HA 17.5 16-28.3], PV 19 16-24] sec, P=0.85). Peak postoperative ALT values were comparable (median IQ range] HA 1031 668-1701], PV 1107 754-1824] IU/ml, P=0.78). There were no statistically significant differences in 30-day or 1-year mortality, but more early deaths occurred in the HA group. Using our data, we calculated that a prospective randomized trial would need approximately 300 patients to be sure that mortality was the same with both techniques. CONCLUSION: We have demonstrated no clinically or statistically significant differences in indices of graft function, reperfusion injury, or outcome between primary HA or PV reperfusion.