Indocyanine green fluorescence imaging to evaluate graft perfusion during liver transplantation

Primary graft dysfunction (PGD) is a leading cause of graft loss after liver transplantation. There is no reliable method to anticipate this complication intraoperatively. Indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescence imaging is a technique used in hepatobiliary surgery for detection of liver malignancies, but has never been reported in the setting of liver transplantation (LT) for function assessment. We hypothesized that there could be an association between the type of fluorescence and the occurrence of PGD.

We retrospectively analyzed 72 patients who underwent LT at our center. An assessment of the liver graft with the ICG fluorescence technique was carried out. A classification comprising 3 types of fluorescence was created after evaluation of the recorded images. We assessed the relationship between the type of fluorescence and the occurrence of PGD.

Crosstabulation analysis of the fluorescent types and occurrence of PGD yielded a statistically significant association (p = 0.002). Univariate analysis showed that an abnormal ICG fluorescence pattern was a risk factor for the occurrence of PGD after LT.

Our findings suggest that there could be an association between ICG fluorescence imaging and graft function. This intraoperative tool could be useful to detect patients at risk of developing PGD after LT.