Intrahepatic venous anastomosis formation of the right liver in living donor liver transplantation: evaluations by Doppler ultrasonography and pulse-inversion ultrasonography with Levovist.

Background: Our aim was to investigate the development of intrahepatic venous anastomoses between the middle hepatic vein (MHV) and the right hepatic vein (RHV) in adult-to-adult, living donor, liver transplantation.

Methods: Using Doppler ultrasonography, we studied the formation of venous anastomoses between the MHV tributaries for segments 5 and 8 (V5, V8) and the RHV in the liver remnants of 7 donors of a left liver, including the MHV, and in the liver grafts of 8 recipients of a right liver, without including the MHV. In 1 donor and 5 recipients, we performed pulse-inversion ultrasonography with a microbubble contrast agent to evaluate hepatic parenchymal perfusion in the drainage region of the MHV.

Results: We observed 15 MHV tributaries of V5 and 13 of V8 among the 15 adult transplant patients. During the first postoperative week, we detected venous anastomosis between V5 and the RHV in 4 patients and in 10 patients between V8 and the RHV. After the 1st week, we observed the formation of anastomosis between V5 and the RHV in 10 patients, and between V8 and the RHV in 3. In both MHV tributaries, the mean flow velocities increased (P < .01). By the end of the 1st week, the formation rate in V8 was higher than in V5 (77% vs 27%, P < .03). In the parenchymal phase of the pulse-inversion ultrasonography with the microbubble contrast agent, the V5 drainage region had low intensities, while the V8 drainage territory revealed high intensities in 4 of 6 patients (66.7%).

Conclusions: Functional venous anastomoses between either V5 or V8 and the RHV developed in most of the donors of left hepatic lobes and in recipients of right hepatic lobes; however, anastomoses developed earlier in V8 than in V5. Furthermore, perfusion was decreased in the drainage area of V5, compared with V8.