Objective:To investigate the application value of dualgraft living donor liver transplantation of right segment from an adult living donor combined with a left lateral segment from donation after brain death for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
Methods:The retrospective and descriptive study was conducted. The clinicopathological data of a male 46yearold patient with HCC who underwent dualgraft living donor liver transplantation of right segment from an adult living donor combined with a left lateral segment from donation after brain death at the West China Hospital of Sichuan University in October 2019 were collected. He weighed 66 kg and was 171 cm in height. His blood type was A Rh-positive. Graft one was from a female 23-year-old living donor who had a bodyweight of 50 kg, a height of 150 cm, and blood type of A Rh-positive; graft two was from a male 44yearold brain death donor with the blood type of A Rh-positive. The surgery was performed in three operating rooms, graft one and graft two were obtained simultaneously in two operating rooms, and the recipient′s liver was dissected in the third operating room. When the in vitro splicing of the liver was almost completed, surgeons entirely removed the recipient′s liver and started to transplant the new one. Observation indicators: (1) surgical situations and postoperative recovery of the living donor and the recipient; (2) postoperative pathological examination of the recipient′s liver; (3) Follow-up. Follow-up was conducted by outpatient examinations, including monitoring of HCC recurrence, monitoring of new liver function, monitoring and adjustment of immunosuppressive agents, detection of biliary vascular complications, rejection and adverse drug reactions. Regular lifelong Follow-up was required for recipients, with the latest Follow-up on December 4, 2019. Count data were expressed as absolute numbers or percentages.
Results:(1) Surgical situations and postoperative recovery of the living donor and the recipient: operation time, volume of intraoperative blood loss, volume of intraoperative infusion of autologous blood of the living donor were 315 minutes, 200 mL, 200 mL, respectively. The living donor was discharged from hospital on the sixth day after surgery without any complications. The recipient underwent modified piggyback liver transplantation successfully. Graft one was from the right segment free of the middle hepatic vein in the living donor, with a weight of 410 g. Graft two was from the left lateral segment in the donor after brain death, with a weight of 400 g. The graft from donors to recipient weight ratio was 1.2% after splicing. The operation time, duration of anhepatic phase, volume of intraoperative blood loss, volume of intraoperative blood transfusion were 815 minutes, 60 minutes, 1 500 mL, 1 800 mL, respectively. The recipient′s temperature was normal during hospitalization. On the first postoperative day, the level of white blood cell and neutrophilic granulocyte percentage of the recipient reached a peak (17.15×10⁹/L and 91.7%, respectively) and then gradually decreased. After antiinfective treatment with piperacillin sodium and sulbactam sodium, both of the two indicators returned to normal on the seventh day after surgery (7.90×10⁹/L and 70.9%, respectively), and the antibiotic was discontinued. During the hospitalization, the level of albumin of the recipient fluctuated in 31.0-41.4 g/L, the liver function parameters including total bilirubin, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, prothrombin time and international normalized ratio gradually returned to normal levels, and the renal function parameters including creatinine and estimated glomerular filtration rate remained within the normal range. On the tenth day after surgery, the recipient was in good condition and discharged from the hospital. (2) Postoperative pathological examination of the recipient′s liver: ① results of the pathological examination showed moderately differentiated HCC with incomplete tumour capsule and no invasion of the liver capsule. The surrounding liver tissues showed hepatitis Brelated nodular cirrhosis, and no tumor involvement was detected at the broken end of the hilum. ② The gallbladder presented chronic cholecystitis accompanied by cholesterol deposition, and one abdominal lymph node showed reactive hyperplasia. The immunohistochemical staining showed 10% positive HBsAg and negative HBcAg. (3) Follow-up: the tumor markers of the recipient were tested on November 19, 2019, including αfetoprotein (2.92 μg/L) and abnormal prothrombin (16 AU/L). Together with the negative result of abdominal colour doppler ultrasound, they collectively indicated no HCC recurrence in the recipient. The liver function parameters including total bilirubin (8.6 μmol/L), alanine aminotransferase (23 IU/L), aspartate aminotransferase (28 IU/L) and albumin (44.0 g/L) of the recipient tested on December 3, 2019, were all in normal levels. Blood concentration of tacrolimus was 4.2 μg/L . The drug dose of mycophenolate mofetil dispersible tablets was adjusted to 250 mg given twice daily, and the drug dose of others was unchanged (tacrolimus 2 mg, once daily; sirolimus 1mg, once daily). No symptoms, signs or examination results indicated biliary vascular complications, rejection or adverse drug reactions.
Conclusion:Dualgraft living donor liver transplantation of right segment from an adult living donor combined with a left lateral segment from donation after brain death is safe and effective, which can be used as a suboptimal treatment for patients with HCC beyond Milan criteria.