J Korean Surg Soc.  2012 Oct;83(4):246-249. 10.4174/jkss.2012.83.4.246.

Liver abscess developed after cadaveric liver transplantation due to ligation of an accessory right hepatic artery of the donor graft

• Yu YD
• Kim DS
• Byun GY
• Suh SO

• KMID: 2212318
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4174/jkss.2012.83.4.246

Abstract

It is important that extrahepatic arteries are identified precisely at the time of graft procurement. We present a case where the accessory right hepatic artery of the liver was ligated leading to postoperative liver abscess formation in the liver graft. A forty-seven-year-old female patient diagnosed with liver cirrhosis underwent orthotopic cadaveric liver transplantation due to altered mentality. The donor graft showed a variant of the hepatic artery anatomy where an accessory right hepatic artery arose from the superior mesenteric artery. This artery was accidentally transected during procurement. Since the back bleeding test using perfusion fluid was good, the artery was ligated. Postoperative abdominal computed tomography scan revealed a 6 cm low attenuating lesion in the liver. The patient underwent conservative treatment. We believe that even small accessory arteries (1 to 2 mm) should be reconstructed whenever possible to avoid postoperative complications such as liver abscess.

Keyword

Liver abscess; Liver transplantation; Postoperative complications; Hepatic artery

MeSH Terms

Arteries
Cadaver
Female
Hemorrhage
Hepatic Artery
Humans
Ligation
Liver
Liver Abscess
Liver Cirrhosis
Liver Transplantation
Mesenteric Artery, Superior
Perfusion
Postoperative Complications
Tissue Donors
Transplants

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Postoperative Doppler sonogram demonstrating normal pulsatile flow of the right hepatic artery with a resistive index of 0.6.

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  Fig. 2 (A) Postoperative computed tomography (CT) scan revealing a 6 cm multilobulating ill-defined heterogeneous low density lesion in the right posterior section of the liver. (B) The size of the lesion decreased on follow up CT scan.

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