Simultaneous liver and whole pancreas harvesting in the multiorgan cadaveric donor.

Simultaneous harvesting of the liver and whole pancreas is usually not performed because it is believed that the shared vascular supply of both organs is incompatible with safe grafting. A careful review of the vascular anatomy, however, shows that simultaneous removal of the two organs is feasible, and a technique is described by which the liver is revascularized in the recipient through the celiac axis or the common hepatic artery and the pancreas is revascularized through the superior mesenteric and splenic arteries. When the vascular supply is abnormal, reconstruction of the vascular tree of one or both organs may be needed. The results of this technique used on 10 recipients are analysed.