Objective: To investigate the variations type of hepatic artery and discuss the method of how to protect hepatic artery from injury during the quick harvest of the donor liver.
Methods: A retrospective review of the variations of hepatic arteries of the donor livers and the course of excision and reconstruction of 200 donor livers was performed, and the aberrance and reconstruction method of hepatic arteries were summarized.
Results: 37 out of 200 hepatic arteries varied and 2 patients suffered biliary complications because of improper preservation of aberrant hepatic arteries.
Conclusions: Most aberrant liver arteries come from superior mesenteric artery or left gastric artery. Proper quick harvest of multiple organs is the basis of the integrity of hepatic arteries, and all the aberrance must be reconstructed.