title: Clinical importance of congenital anomalies of the inferior vena cava in organ procurement surgery from a deceased donor: two case reports.
abstract: Congenital anomalies of the inferior vena cava (IVC) are rare but important problems in living donors for kidney transplantation, especially in cases of a short left renal vein and accompanying vascular and urological anatomic variations. However, the clinical impacts of IVC anomalies in deceased donors have yet to be reported. The unexpected presence of an IVC in an unusual position poses challenges to surgeons and increases the risk of bleeding during organ removal. Accompanying vascular variations can cause unexpected bleeding and injury and therefore technical complications in procurement and subsequent implantation. During cold perfusion, inadequate venous drainage or insufficient cooling can induce graft damage. Our cases highlight the need for all transplant surgeons to confirm the anatomy of the aorta, IVC, and major vessels early in the surgical procedure and, should an anomaly be detected, know how to manage the problem.
authors.affiliation: Division of Vascular and Transplantation Surgery, Department of Surgery, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Mi-Hyeong
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Division of Vascular and Transplantation Surgery, Department of Surgery, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Kang-Woong
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Jun
authors.affiliation: Division of Vascular and Transplantation Surgery, Department of Surgery, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: In-Sung
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Moon
authors.affiliation: Division of Vascular and Transplantation Surgery, Department of Surgery, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Ji-Il
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Kim
keywords: Anatomic variation; Inferior vena cava; Intraoperative complications; Kidney transplantation; Tissue and organ procurement