Hepatic artery thrombosis in pediatric liver transplantation

The incidence of hepatic artery thrombosis was analyzed in a series of 59 consecutive liver transplants performed in 52 children less than 15 years of age at the University of Louvain Medical School, Brussels, from March 1984 to March 1987. This incidence was 17% for the whole series; it was increased in small recipients less than 3 years of age and less than 15 kg (23%) in weight, as well as when the liver was harvested from a small donor less than 15 kg in weight (38%). It was also increased when the donor liver was supplied by more than one artery. This incidence was markedly reduced by arterial revascularization from the aorta, either directly or by interposition of an iliac segment; the reduced-size livers had a much lower incidence of arterial thrombosis (5%) than the whole livers (23%). In the present series, we did not find any argument to support the view that poorly controlled rejection could be implicated in the pathogenesis of arterial thrombosis.