Verhagen MV, de Kleine RH, van der Doef HP, Kwee TC, de Haas RJ. Doppler Ultrasound of Vascular Complications After Pediatric Liver
Transplantation: Incidence, Time of Detection, and Positive Predictive
Value.
Ultrasound Int Open 2022;
8:E36-E42. [PMID:
36408371 PMCID:
PMC9668490 DOI:
10.1055/a-1961-9100]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2022] [Accepted: 10/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Purpose
Doppler ultrasound (DUS) is widely used to detect vascular
complications after pediatric liver transplantation (LT). This study aimed to
assess the moment of first detection of vascular complications with DUS, and to
determine the positive predictive value (PPV) of DUS.
Materials and Methods
Patients aged 0–18 years who underwent LT
between 2015 and 2019 were retrospectively included. 92 LTs in 83 patients were
included (median age: 3.9 years, interquartile range: 0.7–10.5).
Patients underwent perioperative (intra-operative and immediately postoperative)
and daily DUS surveillance during the first postoperative week, and at 1, 3, and
12 months. Vascular complications were categorized for the hepatic artery,
portal vein, and hepatic veins. DUS findings were compared to surgical or
radiological findings during the 1-year follow-up.
Results
52 vascular complications were diagnosed by DUS in 35/92
LTs (38%). 15 out of 52 (28.8%) were diagnosed perioperatively,
29/52 (55.8%) were diagnosed on postoperative days 1–7,
and 8/52 (15.4%) after day 7. The PPV for all vascular
complications diagnosed with DUS was 92.3%. During the 1-year follow-up,
18/19 (94.7%) hepatic artery complications, 19/26
(73.1%) portal vein complications, and 7/7 (100%)
hepatic vein complications were diagnosed perioperatively or during the first
week.
Conclusion
The majority of vascular complications during the first year
after pediatric LT were diagnosed by DUS perioperatively or during the first
week, with a high PPV. Our findings provide important information regarding when
to expect different types of vascular complications on DUS, which might improve
DUS post-LT surveillance protocols.
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