Hepatic venoplasty in right lobe live donor liver transplantation

Inclusion of the middle hepatic vein (MHV) in a right lobe graft is essential to guarantee uniform venous drainage and optimum function of the graft, but end-to-end recipient-to-donor MHV anastomosis may result in outflow obstruction. To avoid outflow obstruction, we designed the venoplasty technique. From September 2000 to November 2002, 65 adult patients received right lobe live donor liver transplantation (LDLT) with grafts containing the right hepatic vein (RHV) and MHV. In the first 34 recipients, the graft RHV and MHV were anastomosed to the recipients' RHV and MHV/left hepatic vein, respectively. For the subsequent 31 recipients, the MHV was joined to the RHV at the back table to form a triangular common orifice. The septum in between the two hepatic veins was divided at the middle and sutured transversely to remove the ridge in between and to create a large opening. The common orifice was anastomosed to a matched-size triangular opening in the recipient's inferior vena cava. After reperfusion, the presence of triphasic pulsatility on spectral Doppler tracing was regarded as a sign of perfect reconstruction. In the first group, Doppler study showed little flow in the MHV in 3 patients, absent pulsatility in the MHV after portal vein reperfusion in 4 patients, and absent pulsatility in the MHV after hepatic artery reperfusion in 5 patients. In the second group, excellent triphasic pulsatility was seen in all except 1 patient (12 of 34 versus 1 of 31, P = .001). A significant increase in the peak flow velocity was seen in the MHV in the second group (median, 19.45 cm/sec versus 31.4 cm/sec, P < .001). Less time was required to complete the hepatic vein anastomoses in the second group (40 minutes versus 27 minutes, P < .001). In conclusion, hepatic venoplasty technique facilitates the implantation of the right lobe graft and guarantees outflow in the MHV.