title: Short hepatic vein reconstruction in biliary atresia patients with absent inferior vena cava.
abstract: Liver transplantation in patients with biliary atresia and polysplenia syndrome requires some technical adjustments. During eight yr, 75 biliary atresia patients underwent living donor liver transplantation. Of these, two patients were complicated by absent inferior vena cava with azygos continuation. Both patients received hemi-liver grafts with short hepatic veins. Outflow was reconstructed using a cryopreserved vena cava. In both patients, the short hepatic vein was anastomosed to the vein graft end-to-end and the end of the vein graft was anastomosed with the common orifices of recipient's hepatic veins. Both of the patients survived the operation with satisfactory graft function. A hemi-liver graft with short hepatic veins can be used for patients with biliary atresia with inferior vena cava agenesia using the current technique.
authors.affiliation: Foundation for Promotion of Cancer Research, Artificial Organ and Transplantation Division, Department of Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Ender
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dulundu
authors.forename: Yasuhiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sugawara
authors.forename: Junichi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kaneko
authors.forename: Yoji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kishi
authors.forename: Nobuhisa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Akamatsu
authors.forename: Yuichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Matsui
authors.forename: Norihiro
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kokudo
authors.forename: Masatoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Makuuchi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001656:Biliary Atresia / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006498:Hepatectomy / Q000379:methods; D006503:Hepatic Veins / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D019520:Living Donors; D008297:Male; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures; D014682:Vena Cava, Inferior / Q000002:abnormalities*; D014683:Vena Cava, Superior / Q000601:surgery