Hemodynamic alterations caused during orthotopic liver transplantation in humans.

Abstract

During orthotopic liver transplantation in normal dogs, it is necessary, at the time that the portal vein and inferior vena cava are cross-clamped, to shunt the venous return from these systems back to the heart in order to prevent cardiovascular collapse.1,4 In man, who is probably naturally endowed with a richer collateral circulation and who has additional venous pathways secondary to liver disease, this has not been necessary,3 and our clinical impression has been that the interruption of venous return has been reasonably well tolerated. The present study was done to quantitate the changes in hemodynamics in six patients during orthotopic liver transplantation. To our knowledge, this kind of information has not been previously reported.