Effects of Adding Congested Segment IV to the Left Lateral Graft on Short-term Outcomes in Pediatric Living-donor Liver-transplant Recipients

Background: In some pediatric patients undergoing living-donor liver transplantation, segment IV without the middle hepatic vein can be added to a left lateral segment graft to obtain larger graft volume. Because no clear consensus on this technique exists, this study investigated the effects of congested areas on postoperative outcomes in pediatric patients with biliary atresia undergoing living-donor liver transplantation.Methods: We retrospectively reviewed data of recipients with biliary atresia aged <= 15 y who had undergone living-donor liver transplantation at Kyoto University Hospital between 2006 and 2021 and with graft-to-recipient weight ratios (GRWR) of <= 2%. Based on the percentage of congested area in the graft, patients were classified into the noncongestion (n = 40; <= 10%) and congestion (n = 13; >10%) groups. To compare the differences between groups with similar nooncongestive GRWRs and investigate the effect of adding congested areas, patients in the noncongestion group with GRWRs of <= 1.5% were categorized into the small noncongestion group (n = 24).Results: GRWRs and backgrounds were similar between the noncongestion and congestion groups; however, patients in the congestion group demonstrated significantly longer prothrombin times, higher ascites volumes, and longer hospitalization. Further, compared with the small noncongestion group, the congestion group had significantly greater GRWR and similar noncongestive GRWR; however, the congestion group had significantly longer prothrombin time recovery (P = 0.020, postoperative d 14), higher volume of ascites (P < 0.05, consistently), and longer hospitalization (P = 0.045), requiring significantly higher albumin and gamma-globulin transfusion volumes than the small noncongestion group (P = 0.027 and P = 0.0083, respectively). Reoperation for wound dehiscence was significantly more frequent in the congestion group (P = 0.048).Conclusions: In pediatric liver-transplant recipients, adding a congested segment IV to the left lateral segment to obtain larger graft volume may negatively impact short-term postoperative outcomes.