In living donor liver transplant (LDLT), it is recommended to have a minimum graft recipient body weight ratio (GRBWR) 0.8 for good outcomes. Recent reports have, however, shown that good outcomes can be obtained even with GRBWR less than 0.8. We hypothesized that in patients receiving a graft with GRWR less than 0.8 absolute graft weight rather than GRBWR may be more relevant for predicting good outcome. Early post-transplant outcomes were assessed in adult patients undergoing elective right lobe LDLT. Patients were categorized as having good (survival) or poor (mortality) outcome. A ROC curve was drawn based on their graft weights and a cutoff value that provided the highest sensitivity and specificity for a good outcome was chosen. 147 patients received right lobe grafts with GRBWR less than 0.8. The 90-day mortality rate was 13.6% (n = 20). AUROC was 67.7%. Graft weight cutoff of 643 g gave the best combination of sensitivity (51.2%) and specificity (77.8%). There were 15 (19.4%) deaths in group with graft weight less than 643 g compared to 5 (7.1%) patients with graft weight 643 g or above. This cutoff value of 643 g (rounded of to 650 g) gave a positive predictive value (PPV) of 94%.

Background: With ageing population and higher prevalence of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in older patients, more and more living donor liver transplants (LDLTs) are being considered in this group of patients as eligibility for deceased donor liver transplant is restricted to those aged 65 years and younger. However, the short-and long-term outcomes of this group have not been reported from India, which does not have a robust national health scheme. The aim of this study was to provide guidelines for transplant in this group. Methods: All patients aged 60 years and older (group 1) who underwent LDLT in our centre between January 2006 and December 2017 were studied. A propensity score-matched group in 1:2 ratio was created with comparable sex and Model for End-Stage Liver Disease score (group 2). The 2 groups were compared for duration of hospital stay, surgical complications, hospital mortality and 1-, 3-and 5-year survival. Results: Group 1 consisted of 207 patients, and group 2 had 414 patients. The number of patients in group 1 gradually increased with time from 4 in 2006 to 33 in 2017 accounting for 15% of total cases. Group 1 had more patients with viral hepatitis, NASH and HCC, and they had a higher 30-day mortality due to cardiorespiratory complications. Although 1-and 3-year survival was similar, the 5-year survival was significantly lower in group 1. Conclusion: Five-year survival was lower in the elderly group due to cardiorespiratory complications and recurrence of HCC. Outcomes in the elderly group can be improved with better patient selection and preventing HCC recurrence.

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Backgrounds/Aims: In living donor hepatectomy, hepatic duct division is a crucial step and often a technical challenge, with the aim of obtaining a good hepatic duct for anastomosis in the recipient and an adequate stump in the donor for closure. Very rarely, after duct division, the remaining stump may not be adequate for primary closure. In such a difficult situation, the options would be either to close stump transversely or a Roux-en-Y Hepaticojejunostomy. Methods: We describe a novel surgical technique of "Cystic duct patch repair", utilizing the available local tissues for closure of bile duct wall. Results: Two year follow up of this technique showed satisfactory results with no evidence of stricture and normal liver functions. Conclusions: In living donor hepatectomy, "Cystic duct patch closure" may be used if the post closure cholangiogram is not satisfactory. Although the best method is prevention by ensuring a stump for closure, very rarely this error can occur and can be sorted by cystic duct patch repair.