Volume 73 - 2010 - Fasc.3 - Symposium
International Symposium '25 years of Adult Liver Transplantation at Cliniques Saint-Luc', Brussels, November 6 and 7, 2009
During this meeting nationally and internationally renowned speakers were brought together in order to tackle par- ticular problems in liver transplantation. A part of the Symposium was dedicated to medical and surgical features in liver transplantation. Several of these presentations will be published in this issue of ACTA GASTRO-ENTEROLOGICA BELGICA.
The ministransplant procedure in liver transplantation
In order to amelior der to ameliorate early recovery after liver transplantation a reduction a reduction of invasiveness of the abdominal incision has been tested and compared incision has been tested and compared with more extended
incisions. This approach named "minitransplant procedure" resulted in better early and late outcome results irrespective of preoperative patients' risk factors as previous
upper abdominal surgery, Body Mass Index and Model of
End Stage Liver Disease score. (Acta gastroenterol. belg.,
2010, 73, 367-369).
The compromised arterial tree : how to deal with ?
It is accepted that for achieving a successful liver transplanta- tion one of the most important points is the arterial revasculariza- tion of the graft. Sometimes de recipient's hepatic artery is not suitable for anastomosis. In this review, we will discuss the differ- ent options to deal with a compromised arterial tree in cadaveric orthotopic liver transplantation with whole graft. (Acta Gastroenterol. belg., 2010, 73, 370-373).
Alternative transplant procedures for acute liver failure
Acute liver failure (ALF) is associated with significant morbid- ity and mortality. The outcome is highly unpredictable and recov- ery depends on several factors. Patients can deteriorate with increasing encephalopathy, coagulopathy and progress to multior- gan failure (MOF). In such patients, liver transplantation (LT) is the only current potential cure. Orthotopic liver transplantation remains the standard procedure for LT in ALF, however, other surgical options have been explored. This review summarises the use of a variety of alternative transplant procures for the treat- ment of acute liver failure including : Two stage OLT, Auxiliary liver transplant, Living donor liver transplantation (LDLT), and ABO incompatible liver transplant. (Acta gastroenterol. belg., 2010, 73, 374-379).
Liver transplantation in HIV infected patients : indications and results
Psychological evaluation of living liver donors - a single centre experience
The psychological evaluation of living liver donors is a sub- stantial part of the preoperative evaluation of donors in many transplantation centres around the globe and aims at securing decision autonomy and informed consent, verifying the psycholog- ical stability of the donor and ruling out psychosocial risks. The aims of this paper are to present a short overview of the current state of the psychosocial evaluation of living donors based on the existing literature and to discuss our centre's experience in the psychological evaluation of donors, the lessons we have learned in the past 10 years and an agenda for the future evaluation of donors and research. (Acta gastroenterol. belg., 2010, 73, 383-388).
