Negative dynamics of the hepatic artery resistive index as a predictor of early arterial thrombosis after deceased donor liver transplantation

Aim. The study aim was to assess the negative dynamics of the hepatic artery resistive index as a reliable predictor of early thrombosis in liver transplant recipients from a postmortem donor, to determine risk factors and to identify a group of patients with an increased risk of this complication.
Material and methods. From July 2018 to August 2021, 92 orthotopic liver transplants from a deceased donor were performed at the Surgical Clinic of the City Clinical Hospital n.a. S.P. Botkin. All liver grafts were taken from donors with brain death. Control Doppler ultrasound examination of hepatic blood flow in all patients was performed on days 1, 3, 5, 7, if necessary, daily. The hepatic arteries resistive index was considered normal at values from 0.55-0.79, high at 0.8-0.89, extremely high above 0.9. Depending on the resistive index value on the 1st postoperative day and its further dynamics, we divided the patients into 3 groups. In each group, we analyzed the incidence of hepatic artery thrombosis and assessed the impact of various risk factors on the resistive index elevation on the 1st day after surgery and on its growth during dynamic observation in the early postoperative period.
Results. Of 92 liver transplants, in three cases, we recorded hepatic artery thrombosis (3.2%), which was not associated with technical difficulties of arterial reconstruction. No mortality was recorded in all three cases. In patients with a normal or high resistive index on the 1st day, without its increase during dynamic observation, the incidence of arterial thrombosis was 0%. In patients with a normal or high resistive index on the 1st day, and its increase during dynamic observation, as well as in patients with an extremely high resistive index on the 1st day, the incidence of arterial thrombosis was 18.1% and 11.1%, respectively. The risk factors of thrombosis were the age of the recipient over 50 years old in an extremely high resistive index on the 1st postoperative day (p=0.024), and the age of the donor over 50 years old in the growth of the resistive index during follow-up (p=0.04).
Conclusion. The lack of positive dynamics in the hepatic artery resistive index reduction may be an additional predictor of arterial thrombosis after liver transplantation. This fact makes it possible to identify a high-risk group of arterial thrombosis, to take additional preventive measures in these patients and to improve the immediate results of treatment in this group of patients.

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