Peritoneum for Middle Hepatic Vein Conduit During Living Donor Liver Transplantation.

Abstract

I have read with interest the article “Parietal Peritoneum as a Novel Substitute for Middle Hepatic Vein Reconstruction During Living Donor Liver Transplantation” published in your journal by Hong et al.1 The use of the parietal peritoneal graft as a venous conduit is not new and has been used as a substitute for several veins for this purpose. It has been shown to be beneficial in a rapid and effective way to repair the venous defects in the portomesenteric veins, hepatic vein, and vena cava.2-4 In the study of Hong et al, the parietal peritoneum was used for the middle hepatic vein during right lobe living donor liver transplantation. The authors wrote that the parietal peritoneum has never been used for this purpose before: “However, to the best of our knowledge, clinical use of the parietal peritoneum as a substitute for middle hepatic vein reconstruction, an essential procedure during LDLT using the right liver graft, has never been described.” During a living donor right lobe liver transplant, I have used the parietal peritoneum to correct the flow problem in the middle hepatic vein before. The result was successful, and I reported it in 2015.5 I just respectfully wanted to remind them of my experience on this occasion. I congratulate and support the authors’ success using the parietal peritoneum for middle hepatic vein conduits.