Recovery of native liver after heterotopic liver transplantation for fulminant hepatic failure: MR studies.
Heterotopic liver transplantation involves the transplantation of an auxiliary liver into the subhepatic space while leaving the native liver intact. This procedure is a viable treatment for select patients with fulminant hepatic failure who fail medical treatment. The MR-pathologic correlation of a patient who developed graft failure and recovered full function of her native liver after heterotopic liver transplantation is presented. Based on the imaging and biopsy findings, immunosuppression was withdrawn and the patient remains asymptomatic with normal liver function. Interpreters of imaging studies in this group of patients should not restrict their attention to the heterotopic graft. The return of the native liver in both a structural and functional sense is a clinically important phenomenon that can be detected with MR imaging.
Siegelman
E S
ES
Department of Radiology, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA 19107.
Mitchell
D G
DG
Rubin
R
R
Moritz
M J
MJ
Munoz
S J
SJ
Palazzo
J P
JP
Rifkin
M D
MD
D000328:Adult; D000792:Angiography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D016031:Liver Transplantation; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D016042:Transplantation, Heterotopic