Correlation of portal venous velocity and portal venous flow with short-term graft regeneration in recipients of living donor liver transplants.
BACKGROUND
To evaluate the correlation of postoperative portal venous velocity (PVV) and portal venous flow (PVF) with the degree of short-term graft regeneration in recipients of living donor liver transplantation (LDLT).


METHODS
Between August 2005 and April 2006, we performed 44 adult-to-adult LDLTs with right-lobe grafts, of whom 31 recipients were included in this study. Doppler ultrasonography was used to measure PVV (cm/s) and PVF (mL/min) on postoperative days (POD) 1, 3, and 5 or 6. Portal venous velocity index (PVI) was defined as the ratio of PVV to graft weight (GW), and portal flow volume index (PFI) as the ratio of PVF to GW. Graft regeneration rate (GRR), defined as the ratio of the volume of regenerated graft to GW, was estimated by dividing computed tomography volumetry at POD 7 by GW measured after retrieval of the graft. We analyzed the relationship between GRR and PVV, PVF, PVI, and PFI.


RESULTS
GW ranged between 528 g and 1040 g (mean = 735 g) and GRR ranged between 118% and 278% (mean = 172%). Although neither PVV nor PVF correlated with GRR, PVI and PFI at POD 1 (P = .009) and PFI at POD 5 or 6 (P = .012) significantly correlated with GRR at POD 7.


CONCLUSIONS
PVI and PFI at POD 1 are useful indicators to predict short-term graft regeneration in recipients of LDLT.
Park
M Y
MY
Kangnam St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
Lee
Y J
YJ
Rha
S E
SE
Oh
S N
SN
Byun
J Y
JY
Kim
D G
DG
D000328:Adult; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D006498:Hepatectomy; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000601:surgery; D017093:Liver Failure / Q000601:surgery; D008115:Liver Regeneration / Q000502:physiology*; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000502:physiology*; D019520:Living Donors; D009929:Organ Size; D011169:Portal Vein / Q000502:physiology*; D012038:Regeneration; D012189:Retrospective Studies