Abstract

To explore the incidence of early bifurcation of the right hepatic artery (RHA) and the right posterior hepatic artery (RPHA), which is crucial in right lobe graft (RLG) and right posterior sector graft (RPSG) procurement for living-donor liver transplantation.Early bifurcation of the hepatic artery tends to induce oversight of one of the bifurcated arteries and its injury in RLG/RPSG procurement. Unrecognizable on conventional three-dimensional (3-D) images, its significance is underestimated.We enrolled 500 patients who underwent preoperative imaging for scheduled surgeries at two major transplant centers. All-in-one 3-D images consisting of the hepatic artery, portal vein, and bile duct were constructed. Early bifurcation of the RHA and the RPHA was defined as the arteries bifurcating proximal to the cutting line of the right hepatic duct and the right posterior duct, respectively.Early bifurcation of the RHA was seen in 11.3% of cases of an infra-portal RPHA and in 46.0% of cases of a supra-portal RPHA (P < 0.001). Early bifurcation of the RPHA was encountered in 35.3% of cases of an infra-portal RPHA, in no cases of a supra-portal RPHA, and in 100% of cases in which the arteries to segment 6/7 arose individually from the RHA. The overall incidence of early bifurcation was 19.9% for RHA and 43.6% for RPHA.Early bifurcation of the RHA and the RPHA is frequently encountered and requires caution for RLG/RPSG procurement. Special attention should be paid to supra-portal RPHA for RLG procurement.

View details for DOI 10.1097/SLA.0000000000005335

View details for PubMedID 34913890