Polycystic liver transplant: a case report

A liver from a donor with brain death due to a ruptured cerebral aneurysm was transplanted. The liver had multiple bilobar simple cysts; the largest was less than 3 cm in diameter. The noncystic liver volume was greater than 50%, and the liver had neither fibrosis nor venous congestion. The donor surgery was performed in accordance with the standard protocol without rupture of the cysts. The recipient was a 40-year-old man with cirrhosis associated with hepatitis B. The recipient operation was done by using the piggyback method with no complications. Excessive drainage of chylous ascites (10 000 mL/d) started in the first days after surgery and continued, gradually decreasing until the end of the second month. The patient was discharged with no complications at the end of the third month. No growth in the cysts was observed on follow-up computed tomography scans. Excluding this particular case, a total of 7 other patients have received a polycystic liver transplant. In all 7 cases, the fact that the donor had polycystic liver disease was not known but was encountered by coincidence during procurement. The case reported here is the first case where the polycystic liver disease was diagnosed before procurement and the transplant was still carried out. It appears that, if the donor liver has enough healthy noncystic volume, polycystic livers can be transplanted.