Background: Portal vein thrombosis remains a challenging problem in liver transplantation (LT). Although, it is no longer an absolute contra indication for LT, surgical techniques depend on the extent of portal vein thrombosis. The long term outcomes of patients with portal vein thrombosis who undergo LT are not well defined. Here, our aim is to report our follow up results of LT patients with pre-existing portal vein thrombosis.
Materials and Methods: We performed a retrospective study of all consecutive LT patients who underwent liver transplantation from December 1988 to December 2017. The outcomes of patients with portal vein thrombosis were reviewed.
Results: From December 1988 to December 2017, we performed 584 LT procedures at our centers. Of these, 33 patients had pre-existing portal vein thrombosis (23 living donor, 10 deceased-donor); 17 had partial thrombosis, and 16 had complete thrombosis. None of them had physiological portomesenteric shunt during surgery. We had no mortality due to portal vein anastomoses complication.
Conclusion: Patients with portal vein thrombosis require more complex surgeries and are associated with higher complications rates. However, even in patients with complete portal vein thrombosis, long term successful outcomes can be achieved.