Use of the breast implant for liver graft malposition

Abstract

Transplantation of a small liver into a large patient may cause problems with correct reperfusion of the graft because of torsion of the hepatic pedicle, leading to malfunction of the transplanted organ. We describe the case of a 60-year-old man with alcoholic cirrhosis and hepatitis B virus who received a small-sized liver graft. Owing to the lack of adequate reperfusion of the transplanted organ arising from pedicular kinking caused by disparate sizes, a breast implant was placed behind the graft as a means of support, thereby resolving the problem. The use of prosthetic materials for the correct placement of grafts with size incongruity is also discussed, and the literature is reviewed.