MSCT assessment of hepatic veins in living donor liver transplantation donors

Objective To assess the value of MSCT in the evaluation of the anatomy and variation of hepatic veins for living donor liver transplantation(LDLT)donors and the significance of vessel variation in surgical operation.Methods A total of 238 subjects who wanted to be the donors of LDLT underwent MSCT plain and enhanced examination,and the hepatic veins were evaluated.Results Among all 238 subjects,according to Nakamura's classification of hepatic veins,164 were type Ⅰ,60 were type Ⅱ,14 were type Ⅲ.The left hepatic vein(LHV)shared a common trunk with the middle one in 167 subjects.Branches of Ⅷ going along the cross section and diameter larger than 5 mm were detected in 105 subjects.The Ⅳ segment veins drained into MHV in 68,into LHV in 7 subjects.Right inferior hepatic vein with diameter larger than 3 mm was found in 108 subjects,while the distance between RHV and IRHV were larger than 4 cm in 55 subjects.Conclusion MSCT can offer details and exact information about the donors pre-operation,and is an important non-invasive method for the evaluation of hepatic veins of potential LDLT donors.