Reperfusion of the liver allograft with blue blood: is it still the royal perfusate?

The technique of liver transplantation has become relatively standardized. Although not commonly practiced, arterial reperfusion has been shown in both animal and human trials to offer hemodynamic and functional benefits to liver allograft recipients. Whether this is the result of shortening the time to re-establishing arterial perfusion or an effect of the sequence which the liver is revascularized remains unknown. Further randomized clinical trials are needed to answer this question and support our practice of arterial reperfusion.