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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indographics 2023; 02(01): 01-12
DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-1768615
Review Article

Liver Transplant Complications—A Pictorial Review

Vijayakumaran Ethiraju 
1   Department of Radiology, Kovai Medical Center and Hospital, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
,
Venkatesh Kasi Arunachalam 
1   Department of Radiology, Kovai Medical Center and Hospital, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
,
Paari Vijayaragavan
2   KMCH Liver Institute, Kovai Medical Center and Hospital, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
,
Santhosh Poyyamoli
1   Department of Radiology, Kovai Medical Center and Hospital, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
,
Rajesh Kumar
1   Department of Radiology, Kovai Medical Center and Hospital, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
,
Sriman Rajasekaran
1   Department of Radiology, Kovai Medical Center and Hospital, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
,
Gowtham Sembagoundenvalasu Mahadevan
1   Department of Radiology, Kovai Medical Center and Hospital, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
,
Seetharaman Cannane
1   Department of Radiology, Kovai Medical Center and Hospital, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
,
Pudhiavan Arunachalam
1   Department of Radiology, Kovai Medical Center and Hospital, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
,
Rajkumar Ramasamy
1   Department of Radiology, Kovai Medical Center and Hospital, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
,
Harish Kumar
1   Department of Radiology, Kovai Medical Center and Hospital, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
,
Swathigha Selvaraj
1   Department of Radiology, Kovai Medical Center and Hospital, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
,
Ravindar Kashyap
1   Department of Radiology, Kovai Medical Center and Hospital, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
,
Karthick Venkatesh
1   Department of Radiology, Kovai Medical Center and Hospital, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
,
Pankaj Mehta 
1   Department of Radiology, Kovai Medical Center and Hospital, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
,
Mathew Cherian 
1   Department of Radiology, Kovai Medical Center and Hospital, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
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Abstract

Liver transplantation is the most definitive treatment for decompensated chronic liver diseases, acute hepatic failure, and localized hepatocellular carcinomas. With the widespread use of extensive preop evaluation and advanced surgical techniques, the success rate of liver transplantation has dramatically risen over the decade. In a world of increasing demand for liver donors from brain dead donors, a rising trend is seen in the acceptance of living donor liver transplantation procedures. However, postoperative surveillance needs a lower threshold for early imaging to identify the most dreaded complications for salvaging the graft. This pictorial essay aims to categorize the postliver transplantation complications and various imaging findings to diagnose them. The complications can be broadly classified into vascular and nonvascular complications. The most important concern among vascular complications is hepatic artery thrombosis, which frequently results in graft failure. The nonvascular complication comprises biliary origin, infection, and immune response. Multimodality imaging is the need of the hour, which includes ultrasound as the primary tool for gross evaluation, followed by triphasic computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Newer techniques in MRI, like diffusion-weighted imaging, arterial spin labeling, diffusion kurtosis imaging, blood oxygenation-level dependent, and magnetic resonance elastography, can also be used to diagnose these complications. Interventional management through minimal access has become the first line of management in certain vascular and nonvascular complications, which can salvage the graft.

Keywords

liver transplantation - thrombosis - biliary strictures - interventional radiology

Funding

The authors did not receive support from any organization for the submitted work.




Publication History

Article published online:
05 October 2023

© 2023. Indographics. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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