Surgical anatomy of the left lateral segment as applied to living-donor and split-liver transplantation: a clinicopathologic study

To evaluate intrahepatic vascular and biliary anatomy of the left lateral segment (LLS) as applied to living-donor and split-liver transplantation.

Living-donor and split-liver transplantation are innovative surgical techniques that have expanded the donor pool. Fundamental to the application of these techniques is an understanding of intrahepatic vascular and biliary anatomy.

Pathologic data obtained from cadaveric liver corrosion casts and liver dissections were clinically correlated with the anatomical findings obtained during split-liver, living-donor, and reduced-liver transplants.

The anatomical relation of the left bile duct system with respect to the left portal venous system was constant, with the left bile duct superior to the extrahepatic transverse portion of the left portal vein. Four specific patterns of left biliary anatomy and three patterns of left hepatic venous drainage were identified and described.

Although highly variable, the biliary and hepatic venous anatomy of the LLS can be broadly categorized into distinct patterns. The identification of the LLS duct origin lateral to the umbilical fissure in segment 4 in 50% of cast specimens is significant in the performance of split-liver and living-donor transplantation, because dissection of the graft pedicle at the level of the round ligament will result in separate ducts from segments 2 and 3 in most patients, with the further possibility of an anterior segment 4 duct. A connective tissue bile duct plate, which can be clinically identified, is described to guide dissection of the segment 2 and 3 biliary radicles.