Objective  To summarize the experience of complex hepatic artery reconstruction in orthotopic liver transplantation.

  Methods  Clinical data of 7 liver transplantation recipients who underwent complex hepatic artery reconstruction from January 2015 to March 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. Among them, 4 recipients received classical liver transplantation and 3 cases underwent piggyback liver transplantation. Intraoperative general conditions including anhepatic phase, intraoperative blood loss, hepatic artery anastomosis time and operation time of the recipients were recorded. The clinical prognosis and complications were observed.

  Results  In two donors, variant right hepatic artery was used for vascular reconstruction. The celiac trunk or the common hepatic artery of the donors was anastomosed with the common hepatic artery of the recipients. Iliac artery bypass was employed in 2 cases, and then the hepatic artery of the donors was anastomosed with the abdominal aorta of the recipients. The superior mesenteric artery of 1 donor was end-to-end anastomosed with the common hepatic artery of the recipient. The celiac trunk of 1 donor was anastomosed with the splenic artery of the recipient. Only 1 case was required to undergo secondary liver transplantation due to acute hepatic artery thrombosis after hepatic artery anastomosis. All the 6 recipients successfully completed the liver transplantation. No perioperative death was observed. The anhepatic phase endured from 49 to 77 min. The intraoperative blood loss was ranged from 300 to 1 500 mL. The anastomosis time of hepatic artery was 23-56 min. The operation time was ranged from 5.3 to 11.1 h. The length of postoperative hospital stay was 23-56 d. Neither hepatic artery thrombosis nor stenosis occurred. The liver function of all recipients was basically restored to normal within postoperative 2 weeks. No severe surgical complications occurred. The liver graft achieved excellent function.

  Conclusions  Appropriate identification of the hepatic artery variation, proper management of liver artery of the donors and recipients and reconstructing the blood supply of liver graft are the crucial procedures of liver transplantation.