Three-dimensional print of a liver for preoperative planning in living donor liver transplantation

TLDR

The increasing demand for liver transplantation and limited cadaveric donor supply have heightened the need for living donor liver transplantation, where donor and recipient safety is paramount. The study aims to use 3D printing to preoperatively identify vascular and biliary anatomy for improved surgical planning and reduced complications in LDLT. The authors created a protocol to 3D‑print synthetic livers with realistic vascular and biliary networks for six patients, producing the first complete 3D‑printed liver models. The printed models accurately reproduced the anatomical and geometrical landmarks of the native livers, confirming their fidelity.

Abstract

The growing demand for liver transplantation and the concomitant scarcity of cadaveric livers have increased the need for living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). Ensuring the safety of donors and recipients is critical. The preoperative identification of the vascular and biliary tract anatomy with 3-dimensional (3D) printing may allow better preoperative surgical planning, avert unnecessary surgery in patients with potentially unsuitable anatomy, and thereby decrease the complications of liver transplant surgery. We developed a protocol and successfully 3D-printed synthetic livers (along with their complex networks of vascular and biliary structures) replicating the native livers of 6 patients: 3 living donors and 3 respective recipients who underwent LDLT. To our knowledge, these are the first complete 3D-printed livers. Using standardized preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative assessments, we demonstrated identical anatomical and geometrical landmarks in the 3D-printed models and native livers.