Impact of Different Dominant Hepatic Vein Patterns in Left-Lobe Donors of Adult Living Donor Liver Transplantation

Current status of left lobe adult to adult living donor liver transplantation

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

This review describes the history and current state of left lobe living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). The transplant community continues to face an organ shortage on a global scale, and the expansion of LDLT is attractive because it allows us to provide life-saving liver transplants to individuals without drawing from, or depending on, the limited deceased donor pool. Donor safety is paramount in LDLT, and for this reason, left lobe LDLT is particularly attractive because the donor is left with a larger remnant.

RECENT FINDINGS

This article reviews the donor and recipient evaluations for left lobe LDLT, discusses small for size syndrome and the importance of portal inflow modification, and reviews recipient outcomes in right lobe versus left lobe LDLT.

SUMMARY

Left lobe LDLT was the first adult-to-adult LDLT ever to be performed in Japan in 1993. Since that time, the use of both right and left lobe LDLT has expanded immensely. Recent work in left lobe LDLT has emphasized the need for inflow modification to reduce portal hyperperfusion and early graft dysfunction following transplant. Accumulating evidence suggests, however, that even though early graft dysfunction following LDLT may prolong hospitalization, it does not predict graft or patient survival.

How Has Virtual Hepatectomy Changed the Practice of Liver Surgery?: Experience of 1194 Virtual Hepatectomy Before Liver Resection and Living Donor Liver Transplantation

OBJECTIVE

To assess how virtual hepatectomy (VH), conducted using surgical planning software, influences the outcomes of liver surgery.

BACKGROUND

Imaging technology visualizes the territories of the liver vessels, which were previously impossible. However, the clinical impact of VH has not been evaluated.

METHODS

From 2004 to 2013, we performed 1194 VHs preoperatively. Outcomes of living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) and hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)/colorectal liver metastases (CRLM) were compared between patients in whom VH was performed (VH) and those without VH evaluation (non-VH).

RESULTS

In LDLT, the rate of right liver graft use was higher in the VH (62.1%) than in the non-VH (46.5%) (P < 0.01), which did not increase morbidity of donor surgery. Duration of recipient surgery in the VH in which middle hepatic vein branch reconstruction was skipped was shorter than that in the VH with venous reconstruction. Among HCC patients with impaired liver function, portal territory-oriented resection was conducted more often in the VH than in the non-VH. The 5-year disease-free survival rate for localized HCC was higher in the VH than in the non-VH (37.2% vs 23.9%; P = 0.04). In CRLM, long-term outcomes were similar in the VH and non-VH despite the larger tumor load in the VH.

CONCLUSIONS

VH in LDLT allows double equipoise for the recipient and donor by optimizing decision-making on graft selection and venous reconstruction. VH offers a chance for radical hepatectomy even in HCC patients with impaired liver function and CRLM patients with advanced tumors, without compromising survival.

Impact of donor age on liver regeneration and function following adult living donor liver transplantation

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the impact of donor age on liver function and regeneration following living donor liver transplantation. Donors were divided into an elderly donor group (age >50 years old; n=8) and a young donor group (age <30 years old; n=35). The recipients were also divided into an elderly group (age >50 years old; n=5) and a young group (age <30 years old; n=25). Alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, total bilirubin (TB) and prothrombin time were recorded 1-5 days postoperatively. The liver regeneration ratio (LRR) was recorded 7 and 15 days postoperatively in donors and at 0.5, 1, 3 and 6 months postoperatively in recipients by contrast-enhanced multi-slice spiral computed tomography. Notably, the LRR in the young donor group was significantly increased compared with that in the elderly donor group at 7 days postoperatively (P<0.05). Among recipients, TB in the elderly group was significantly increased compared with that in the young group at 1-5 days postoperatively (P<0.05). The residual liver regeneration rate was decreased and the time of jaundice was prolonged in recipients in the elderly group 7 days postoperatively, but donor age had little impact on the short-term outcome of the residual liver and graft.