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Inferior Vena Cava Reconstruction in Liver Transplantation

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Book cover Surgery of the Inferior Vena Cava

Abstract

Liver transplantation has advanced considerably over the last five decades and is now a well-established lifesaving operation for patients with end-stage liver disease. The development and expansion of liver transplantation has also advanced the field of liver surgery as a whole, evolving complex methods of hepatic resection and vascular reconstruction. Surgical techniques for reconstruction of the inferior vena cava include conventional and piggyback technique, piggyback variations such as end-to-side and side-to-side cavocavostomy, and reverse piggyback. Venovenous bypass and portocaval shunting can be utilized during the reconstruction as appropriate. Particular vena cava reconstruction is required in domino transplantation, autotransplantation, Budd-Chiari syndrome, and split-liver transplantation. Special techniques have been developed to address venous outflow obstruction as well as to utilize the vena cava as inflow for the transplanted liver. Surgery of the inferior vena cava as it pertains to liver transplantation is reviewed in the following chapter.

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Correspondence to Andreas Tzakis MD, PhD .

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Watson, M.J., Pararas, N., Tzakis, A. (2017). Inferior Vena Cava Reconstruction in Liver Transplantation. In: Azoulay, D., Lim, C., Salloum, C. (eds) Surgery of the Inferior Vena Cava. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-25565-1_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-25565-1_11

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