Perioperative immunological differentiation in liver cirrhotic patients who underwent living related liver transplantation.

Background/aims: Liver cirrhotic patients are immunological compromised hosts. Preoperative status in cirrhotic patients affects postoperative infection complications. This study investigates the perioperative immunological changes in the differentiation by MELD score.

Heterotopic pancreas autotransplantation with spleen for uncontrollable hemorrhagic pseudocyst and disabling pain in chronic pancreatitis.

Background/aims: In this study, we report on a heterotopic segmental pancreatic autotransplantation (HPAT) with spleen for alcoholic chronic pancreatitis with uncontrollable hemorrhagic pseudocyst and complete portal venous obstruction. The patient was a 72-year-old man who had an alcoholic chronic pancreatitis with severe abdominal pain and hemorrhagic pseudocyst. The first bleeding from a pseudoaneurism of the gastro-duodenal artery (GDA) to the cyst of pancreas head was stopped by interventional radiology (IVR) at our hospital on May 2010.

Catheter-directed continuous thrombolysis following aspiration thrombectomy via the ileocolic route for acute portal venous thrombosis: report of two cases.

Although acute portal venous thrombosis (PVT) is a potentially life-threatening complication that occurs after hepatobiliary surgery with portal vein (PV) reconstruction or splenectomy, no effective or universal treatments have yet been established. Transjugular or transhepatic catheter-directed thrombolysis has recently been reported to be effective for treating acute PVT. However, the efficiency of this treatment for complete PV occlusion might be limited because a poor portal venous flow prevents thrombolytic agents from reaching and dissolving thrombi.

Successful laparoscopic division of a patent ductus venosus: report of a case.

Patent ductus venosus (PDV) is a rare condition of a congenital portosystemic shunt from the umbilical vein to the inferior vena cava. This report presents the case of an adult patient with PDV, who was successfully treated with laparoscopic shunt division. A 69-year-old male was referred with hepatic encephalopathy.

Successful laparoscopic-assisted hemostasis of intrathoracic massive vericeal rupture during living related liver transplantation: a case report.

End-stage liver disease that requires transplantation is usually accompained by esophagogastric or another collateral vessel varices. Sometimes, the esophagogastric varices rupture intraoperatively during liver transplantation. However we have reported rare case of rupture of an intercostal varicose vein, which was controlled successfully by flexible laparoscopy.

Magnetic compression anastomosis for bile duct stenosis after donor left hepatectomy: a case report.

Magnetic compression anastomosis (MCA) provides a minimally invasive treatment creating a nonsurgical, sutureless enteric anastomosis in conjunction with an interventional radiologic technique by using 2 high-power magnets. Recently, the MCA technique has been applied to bile duct strictures after living donor liver transplantation or major hepatectomy. Herein we described use of MCA for bile duct stenosis 5 months after donor left hepatectomy in a 24-year-old man who presented with a stricture at the porta hepatis and intrahepatic bile duct dilatation.

The inferior mesenteric vein to the left gonadal vein shunt for gastroesophageal varices and extrahepatic portal vein thrombosis after living donor liver transplantation: a case report.

This 59-year-old woman underwent living donor liver transplantation using a left lobe graft as an aid for autoimmune hepatitis in 2003. Splenectomy was also performed because of blood type incompatibility. Follow-up endoscopic and computed tomography examinations showed gastroesophageal varices with extra hepatic portal vein thrombosis in 2007 that increased (esophageal varices [EV]: locus superior [Ls], moderately enlarged, beady varices [F2], Blue varices [Cb], presence of small in number and localized red color sign [RC1] and telangiectasia [TE+], gastric varices [GV]: extension from the cardiac orifice to the fornix [Lg-cf], moderately enlarged, beady varices [F2], white varices [Cw], absence of red color sign [RC-]).

Isolated dissection of the superior mesenteric artery after living donor liver transplantation: a case report.

Isolated dissection of the superior mesenteric artery (SMA) not associated with aortic dissection is rare, particularly after living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). We experienced a case of isolated dissection of the SMA after LDLT performed in a 56-year-old man diagnosed with hepatitis B virus-related cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma within the Milan criteria. He had no past history of hypertension or diabetes mellitus.

Liver transplantation surgical techniques for extensive retroperitoneal tumor with major blood vessel involvement: a case report.

A case of a 71-year-old man with a huge retroperitoneal tumor situated behind the liver, which strongly compressed the liver inferior vena cava (IVC), and gastrointestinal tract is described. With the techniques of whole liver extraction and autologous orthotopic liver transplantation, we successfully removed the tumor. We have the surgical techniques, essential elements, and indications for this procedure.

Regulatory T-cell activation among patients who displayed operational tolerance following intra-portal administration of donor-specific antigens in living donor liver transplantation.

Immunologic tolerance is the goal for all transplant surgeons. We have reported that repeated donor-specific antigen transfusion (DST) via the portal vein allowed rapid reduction of immunosuppressants with decreased acute cellular rejection episodes among living donor liver transplantations (LDLT). Moreover, we demonstrated that intraportal DST induced macrochimerism of donor type CD56+ T cells in the liver graft.

A new technique of lateral approach for laparoscopy-assisted donor left hepatectomy.

This report describes laparoscopy-assisted donor left hepatectomy preserving the caudate lobe (LADLH), and a new technique for hand-assisted liver transection between the left lobe and the caudate lobe beforehand, called the 'lateral approach.' Four donor patients underwent LADLH. Preoperative computed tomography investigated the depth and width between the left lobe and the caudate lobe from the Arantius duct.

A 10-year experience of shunt surgery for esophago-gastric varices in a single center in Japan.

Background/aims: We report 10 years' experience of shunt surgeries, and in particular Inokuchi shunt operation, at a single Japanese center.

Methodology: Subjects were 50 patients who underwent shunt surgery, including Inokuchi shunt, distal splenorenal shunt, H-graft shunt, and inferior mesenteric venous-left renal vein shunt from November 1997 to November 2007. These patients were divided into two groups, a selective shunt group and a non-selective shunt group.

Method for spontaneous constriction and closure of portocaval shunt using a ligamentum teres hepatis in small-for-size graft liver transplantation.

Background: We have developed a new portocaval (PC) shunt creation technique for use in small-for-size (SFS) graft liver transplantations. PC shunts are already used to avoid SFS graft syndrome in cases of adult-to-adult living donor liver transplantation (LDLT), but the current method of creating these shunts is subject to two problems: reportal hypertension and liver dysfunction after premature ligation of the PC shunt; and graft atrophy and liver dysfunction because of the loss of portal venous flow late in the recovery period after LDLT.

Methods: Our new technique avoids these two problems simultaneously by using the interposed obliterated ligamentum teres hepatis (LTH) to create the PC shunt, then obstructing the PC shunt after regeneration of the liver graft.

Auxiliary partial orthotopic living donor liver transplantation for fulminant hepatic failure with flat electroencephalogram: a case report.

A 54-year-old woman with hepatic encephalopathy grade IV (coma) and flat electroencephalogram (EEG) due to fulminant liver failure (FHF) due to hepatitis B virus infection was admitted to our hospital on May 24, 2002. We performed a living donor auxiliary partial orthotopic liver transplantation (APOLT) emergently on the day of admission. The donor was the patient's son, whose ABO blood group was identical.

The new method of time-lag ligation for portosystemic shunt using coronary artery bypass graft occluder for adult living donor liver transplantation.

We performed a living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) for a 57-year-old man who had end-stage liver failure with portal hypertension and an inferior mesenteric vein-left testicular vein (IMV-LTV) shunt. At operation, we did not clamp the shunt but encircled it with a coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) occluder (Sumitomo Bakelite K.K.

A complete physiological orthotopic living related partial pancreatic transplantation alone with pancreatic duct to duct anastomosis for type I diabetes mellitus.

In this study, we reported a complete solitary living related orthotopic partial pancreatic transplantation (LROPPT) with duct to duct drainage of pancreatic juice. A 29-year old man, who has suffered from type I diabetes mellitus (DM) since age 2, underwent LROPPT on 2007 August 9th. He had hypoglycemia for several times per week.

Intra portal donor specific antigen transfusion might prevent re-infection of hepatitis C virus after living related liver transplantation in hepatitis C hepatic cirrhosis.

Background/aims: Re-infection of hepatitis C virus (HCV) is very important for prognosis after liver transplantation of HCV cirrhosis. In the mechanism of re-infection of HCV, the peri-transplant immunity including the immunosuppression must be very important for getting the solution of prevention of its infection. (please rewrite this phrase).

De novo autoimmune hepatitis after living donor liver transplantation in a 25-day-old newborn baby: a case report.

De novo autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) has been described recently as a new type of graft dysfunction in pediatric patients receiving liver transplantation. Herein we have reported the case of a boy, diagnosed as neonatal hemochromatosis, who received a reduced left lateral graft 25 days after birth. Pretransplantation autoantibodies and serological tests were negative.

Early regular examination of biliary strictures by endoscopic retrograde cholangiography for duct-to-duct biliary reconstruction after adult living donor liver transplantation.

In September 2006, we initiated regular screening of biliary strictures (BS) by endoscopic retrograde cholangiography (ERC) within 6 months after removal of external stents among duct-to-duct biliary reconstructed adult living donor liver transplantations (LDLT). From March 2000 to January 2008, we retrospectively evaluated 45 primary adult LDLTs who had survived >1 month. We separated the cases into 2 groups-the early cases (March 2000 to August 2006: n = 34) and the late cases (September 2006 to January 2008: n = 11)-to compare the incidences of BS and the success rates of endoscopic treatments.

Long-term follow-up study of biliary reconstructions and complications after adult living donor liver transplantation: feasibility of duct-to-duct reconstruction with a T-tube stent.

The aim of this study was to analyze the feasibility of duct-to-duct biliary reconstruction (hepaticohepaticostomy) with a T-tube stent (HH-T) after adult living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) based on long-term follow-up. We retrospectively evaluated 63 primary adult LDLTs who had survived >1 month from March 1999 to January 2008. We compared the incidence of bile leaks and biliary strictures (BS) in 3 groups of patients: Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy (HJ; n = 18); duct-to-duct hepaticohepaticostomy with external stents except a T-tube (HH; n = 26); and HH-T (n = 19).

Feasibility of auxiliary partial living donor liver transplantation for fulminant hepatic failure as an aid for small-for-size graft: single center experience.

Auxiliary partial orthotopic liver transplantation (APOLT) or heterotopic auxiliary partial liver transplantation (HAPLT) was initially indicated for potentially reversible fulminant hepatic failure (FHF). We started auxiliary partial living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) for FHF in February 2002. Since then, 5 FHF patients (3 females and 2 males) underwent auxiliary partial LDLT: 3 cases of APOLT and 2 cases of HAPLT.

Impact of intraportal donor-specific leukocyte transfusion for adult ABO-incompatible liver transplantation.

Introduction: We have reported that repeated donor-specific leukocyte transfusions (DSLT) via the portal vein allow rapid reduction of immunosuppressants and decrease the occurrence of acute cellular rejection. Herein, we examined the immunological benefits of DSLT in adult ABO-incompatible living donor liver transplantation (LDLT).

Materials And Methods: Ten adult patients (MELD score, 19.

Successful management of a type 2 diabetic donor in living-donor liver transplantation: a case report.

A 50-year-old woman with a 4-year history of type 2 diabetes history was treated with nateglinide (270 mg/day) and metformin hydrochloride (500 mg/day). The recipient was her 55-year-old husband whose diagnoses were liver cirrhosis with type C chronic hepatitis (Child-Pugh C, score, 10; Model for End-Stage Liver Disease: 15), hepatocellular carcinoma (solitary, 2 cm), and hepatic encephalopathy. Her body weight was 50 kg and body mass index 21.

Successful super-small-for-size graft liver transplantation by decompression of portal hypertension via splenectomy and construction of a mesocaval shunt: a case report.

We performed a successful super-small-for-size graft liver transplantation by decompressing portal hypertension via splenectomy and a mesocaval shunt. A 46-year-old woman with Child-Pugh class C liver cirrhosis associated with Wilson's disease underwent a living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). The donor had an anomalous portal vein, hepatic vein, and bile duct, so we had to use the right lateral segment for the graft.

Temporary cardiac pacing for fatal arrhythmia in living-donor liver transplantation: three case reports.

Cardiac pacing often turns out to be the only effective treatment of severe, life-threatening arrhythmias. We performed 77 living-donor liver transplantations (LDLT) from 1999 to 2007. In these cases, three recipients experienced fatal arrhythmia and required temporary cardiac pacing during the perioperative period.