Transvenous Variceal Embolization during or after Living-donor Liver Transplantation to Improve Portal Venous Flow

Kim, Jin Hyoung; Ko, Gi-Young; Sung, Kyu-Bo; Yoon, Hyun-Ki; Kim, Kyung Rae; Moon, Deok-Bog; Lee, Sung-Gyu

doi:10.1016/j.jvir.2009.07.036

« Previous Next »Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology
Volume 20, Issue 11 , Pages 1454-1459, November 2009

Transvenous Variceal Embolization during or after Living-donor Liver Transplantation to Improve Portal Venous Flow

Jin Hyoung Kim, MD
- Department of Radiology and Research Institute of Radiology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, 388-1, Poongnap-2dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul 138-736, Korea
Gi-Young Ko, MD
- Department of Radiology and Research Institute of Radiology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, 388-1, Poongnap-2dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul 138-736, Korea
- Address correspondence to G.Y.K.
Kyu-Bo Sung, MD
- Department of Radiology and Research Institute of Radiology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, 388-1, Poongnap-2dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul 138-736, Korea
Hyun-Ki Yoon, MD
- Department of Radiology and Research Institute of Radiology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, 388-1, Poongnap-2dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul 138-736, Korea
Kyung Rae Kim, MD
- Department of Radiology and Research Institute of Radiology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, 388-1, Poongnap-2dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul 138-736, Korea
Deok-Bog Moon, MD
- Department of Surgery, Division of Hepatobiliary Surgery and Liver Transplantation, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, 388-1, Poongnap-2dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul 138-736, Korea
Sung-Gyu Lee, MD
- Department of Surgery, Division of Hepatobiliary Surgery and Liver Transplantation, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, 388-1, Poongnap-2dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul 138-736, Korea

Received 1 November 2008; received in revised form 6 July 2009; accepted 14 July 2009.

Purpose

Diversion of portal vein (PV) flow from the partial liver graft in living-donor liver transplantation (LDLT) can be life-threatening and warrant interruption of large collateral vessels. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the clinical efficacy of percutaneous or intraoperative transvenous embolization of portosystemic collateral vessels to improve PV inflow during or after LDLT.

Materials and Methods

From 2000 to 2007, 105 of 1,435 patients (7%) who had undergone LDLT underwent percutaneous (n = 17) or intraoperative (n = 88) venography to evaluate the status of PV inflow and portosystemic collateral vessels. Among these 105 patients, 19 underwent percutaneous (n = 6) or intraoperative (n = 13) transvenous embolization of portosystemic collateral vessels to improve PV inflow. This included 12 men and seven women with a mean age of 46.5 years.

Results

Successful embolization of the portosystemic collateral vessels with subsequently improved PV inflow was achieved in all 13 patients (100%) treated with the intraoperative approach and in four of six (67%) patients treated with the percutaneous approach. During follow-up (median, 8 months), Doppler ultrasonography showed adequate PV inflow in 17 of 19 patients, and follow-up computed tomography showed that collateral flow to the varices disappeared in 13 patients and decreased in four patients. One patient died of acute reactivated hepatitis 2 months after the procedure. Overall clinical success was achieved in 16 of the 19 study patients (84%).