Surgical Procedures of Portal Vein Reconstruction for Recipients With Portal Vein Thrombosis in Adult-to-Adult Living Donor Liver Transplantation

Background Portal vein (PV) reconstruction is an important surgical skill for living donor liver transplantation (LDLT), especially for patients with portal vein thrombosis (PVT). However, this technique remains a critical problem in LDLT because of technical demands and requirements for appropriate venous graft harvesting. This study aimed to evaluate the surgical procedure used for PV reconstruction and outcomes in LDLT recipients with PVT. Methods Between March 2002 and December 2018, 128 adult LDLTs were performed. Fourteen recipients (10.8%) had PVT at the time of LDLT, classified as grade I in 2, grade II in 5, grade III in 6, and grade IV in 1, according to the Yerdel classification. We retrospectively analyzed the surgical procedure and postoperative complications associated with PV reconstruction of recipients with PVT. Results Surgical treatments for 14 recipients with PVT were as follows: thrombectomies in 2 recipients, replacement of interpositional venous grafts using the internal jugular vein (IJV) in 3 recipients and the external iliac vein (EIV) in 6 recipients, mesoportal jump grafts using the IJV in 1 recipient and the IJV + EIV in 1 recipient, and renoportal anastomosis using the EIV in 1 recipient. Among interpositional venous grafts, 5 venous grafts (IJV: 2, EIV: 3) passed the dorsal side of the pancreas without using the jump graft. Postoperative complications associated with PV anastomosis occurred in 1 of 14 (7.1%) recipients, who developed anastomosis bleeding caused by coagulation disorders at 27 days after LDLT, without any strictures of PV anastomoses. The overall survival rate at 5 years posttransplant was not statistically different between recipients with and without PVT (50.0% vs 65.0%, P = .163). Conclusion Our techniques of PV reconstruction, using the appropriate venous grafts and route, are feasible, resulting in a prognosis comparable to that of recipients without PVT.