Obstruction of hepatic vein or inferior vena cava after liver transplantation:the diagnosis and interventional treatment

Abstract

Objective To investigate the diagnosis and interventional therapeutic technology for the obstruction of hepatic vein(HV)or inferior vena cava(IVC)after liver transplantation.Methods In the 831 patients who received orthotopic liver transplantation(OLT)and 26 patients who received living donorliver transplantation(LDLT),11 cases were confirmed with HV or IVC obstruction by venography and received interventional treatment from 2 to 111 days after liver transplantation.Of the 11 patients,five had the obstruction of HV anastomosis,five had the obstruction of IVC anastomosis,and one had the obstructionof HV and IVC anastomosis.In the eleven patients,five patients underwent OLT,four patients underwent LDLT,and two pediatric patients underwent reduced-size OLT.Before interventional treatment,9 patients received CT enhanced scans,2 received MR enhanced scans.Follow-up evaluations included liver or renalfunction tests,clinical symptom,and monitoring of HV or IVC flow.Pressure gradients before and after interventional treatment were compared by using a paired t test.The imaging data and interventional therapeutic technology of 11 cases were retrospectively analyzed.Results In all 11 patients,CT or MRI could clearly show congested areas of the liver,and the location and degree of HV or IVC obstruction.Of the 11 patients,four with HV obstruction and five with IVC obstruction were treated with stent placement,one with HV obstruction was treated with percutaneous transluminal angioplasty(PTA),one with HV and IVCobstruction was treated with HV PTA and IVC stent placement.Interventional technical success was achievedin all patients.The venous pressure gradient across obstruction was significantly reduced from(16.5±4.1)mm Hg(1 mm Hg=0.133 kPa)before the procedure to(2.9±1.7)mm Hg after the rocedure(t=11.5,P＜0.01).Clinical improvement was noted in 10 patients except one pediatric patient who died of multiple-organs failure at the 9 th day after the treatment During the follow-up period of 9 to 672 days,two patients with PTA treatment had recurrent HV stenosis within one month after treatment,no patient with stent placement developed venous restenosis.No major complications occurred during the procedures.Conclusions Stent placement is safe and effective for HV or IVC obstruction after liver transplantation.CT or MRI before treatment is of important value for the diagnosis of congested areas of the liver,and theobservation of HV or IVC obstruction. Key words: Liver transplantation; Postoperative complications; Hepatic vein-occlusive disease; Radiology,interventional; Inferior vena cava