Value of abdominal ultrasound study in the evaluation of the liver parenchyma in potential related donors of liver fragments

Abstract

A comprehensive examination, involving ultrasonography (US) in 55 potential related donors of liver fragments, revealed no signs of diffuse liver lesion (DLL) in 45 cases (Group A), these were found in 10 cases (Group B).Liver fragment taking surgery was performed in Group A patients 1–2 weeks after US. All the 45 patients in this group were found to have a normal US pattern of the liver, as verified by its histological studies in all the cases; all these patients had also a mass body index (MBI) of lower than 25 kg/m2 . In Group B, all the 10 patients had the US signs comparable with mild or moderate DLL (increased liver parenchymal echogenicity, worse visualization of the small branches of the intrahepatic veins and diaphragm, and altered patterns of blood flow in the right hepatic vein) generally concurrent with a higher MBI. After 3–4-month treatment to reduce weight (conditioning), the liver US pattern normalized in 9 of the 10 Group B patients; only one patient with a MBI of 31.6 kg/m2 preserved the signs of mild DLL (histological studies of liver biopsy specimens revealed 10% steatosis in this patient, 2 % steatosis in 2 female patients; this condition was absent in the other 7 patients). All the patients in Group B were also operated on 1–2 weeks after the last US. The recipients from Groups A and B donors had no posttransplantation parenchymal complications.US in the tints of a gray scale along with the determination of blood flow patterns in the hepatic veins rather significantly shows the normal liver in its potential donors and reduces the need for serial diagnostic liver biopsies and other instrumental studies.

Keywords

• orthotopic liver transplantation
• ultrasound study
• liver steatosis