Venous outflow reconstruction using an expanded polytetrafluoroethylene vascular graft in living-donor liver transplant: a single-center experience

Limited studies have focused on the feasibility and technical requirements of using expanded polytetrafluoroethylene vessel grafts for venous outflow reconstruction in a living-donor liver transplant using right liver grafts without the middle hepatic vein.

Between August 2007 and December 2012, thirty-two patients who had received an expanded polytetrafluoroethylene vascular graft for outflow reconstruction during a living-donor liver transplant using a right liver graft without the middle hepatic vein were retrospectively reviewed. Preoperative and operative data, complications, and mortality were compared among patients who received the expanded polytetrafluoroethylene grafts with individual anastomoses (n = 18) or confluent anastomoses (n =14).

For patients who had received an individual and a confluent anastomosis, graft reconstruction time was 25.8 and 14.9 minutes (P = .000). No cases of graft occlusion occurred during first 72 hours after surgery. Although 5 patients (15.6%) died within 90 days, none of the deaths were associated with the vascular grafts. Operative mortality was not statistically different between patients who had received an individual anastomosis (3/18, 16.7%) and those who had received a confluent anastomosis (2/14, 14.3%) (P = 1.000).

Individual and confluent anastomoses using an expanded polytetrafluoroethylene vascular graft is a feasible approach to venous outflow reconstruction in a living-donor liver transplant using right liver grafts without the middle hepatic vein.