title: New hepatic vein reconstruction in left liver graft.
abstract: The incidence of hepatic venous stenosis is higher in partial liver transplantation. New methods for hepatic venous reconstruction in left liver transplantation, which secure wide anastomosis, were devised and are reported here. In the graft, the right side of the middle hepatic vein or the left side of the left hepatic vein was cut longitudinally and a rectangular-shaped vein patch was attached for venoplasty. In the recipient, after the left and middle hepatic veins were joined, the right side of the middle hepatic vein was cut toward the closed right hepatic vein, making a horizontal cavotomy for anastomosis. Of 92 patients who underwent conventional hepatic vein reconstruction, 3 were complicated by hepatic venous stenosis (median follow-up 43 months). By contrast, there were no hepatic vein complications in the 20 patients who underwent the new technique (7 months). The current method appears to be technically feasible for outflow reconstruction in left liver graft transplantation.
authors.affiliation: Artificial Organ and Transplantation Division, Department of Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8655, Japan.
authors.forename: Nobuyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Takemura
authors.forename: Yasuhiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sugawara
authors.forename: Takuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
authors.forename: Nobuhisa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Akamatsu
authors.forename: Yoji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kishi
authors.forename: Sumihito
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tamura
authors.forename: Masatoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Makuuchi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000714:Anastomosis, Surgical; D002648:Child; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006503:Hepatic Veins / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods* / Q000401:mortality; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome