Color Doppler sonography in the diagnosis and monitoring of arterial complications after liver transplantation

Purpose We assessed the usefulness of color Doppler imaging in the diagnosis and monitoring of arterial complications after liver transplantation. Methods Subjects were 142 liver transplant recipients who underwent serial color Doppler sonographic evaluations of the hepatic arteries after surgery. Patients with abnormal sonographic findings underwent subsequent angiography. Results Eighteen subjects experienced 20 hepatic arterial complications (13 thromboses and 7 stenoses). In 7 of the 13 thrombosis incidents, hepatic arterial obstruction occurred within a month of surgery and was evident from the absence of Doppler signals; angiography confirmed the absence of hepatic arterial perfusion in these cases. In the other 6 thrombosis cases, the thrombosis developed 3 or more months after surgery and became apparent from the absence of color Doppler signals at the level of the main arterial trunk and the presence of intraparenchymal “tardus parvus” waveforms. In these cases, angiography showed obstruction of the main arterial trunk and the development of compensatory collateral vessels. In 3 of the 7 cases of stenosis, high flow velocities were recorded at the site of the narrowing, and intrahepatic tardus parvus waveforms were present. In the other 4 stenosis cases, the site of stenosis could not be identified, but intraparenchymal tardus parvus waveforms were recorded. Conclusion The use of color Doppler sonography allows the early diagnosis of hepatic arterial complications after liver transplantation. Tardus parvus waveforms indicated severe impairment of hepatic arterial perfusion, from either thrombosis or severe stenosis. The presence of these waveforms enhanced the accuracy of color Doppler diagnosis (100% positive predictive value), and their detection should prompt angiography. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Clin Ultrasound 28:373–380, 2000.