Use of the splenic artery for arterial reconstruction in living donor liver transplantation.

Background: The present study sought to evaluate the possibility of using the splenic artery for arterialization of a living donor liver graft.

Patients And Methods: In the period between August 2004 and April 2006, we performed 31 adult-to-adult living donor liver transplantations. In 27 patients (group A), the right or left hepatic artery was used to arterialize the graft, whereas in the other four cases (group B), we used the recipient splenic artery.