Role of multislice CT and magnetic resonance cholangiography in preoperative evaluation of potential donor in living related liver transplantation

Abstract Purpose The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of multislice CT (MSCT) and magnetic resonance cholangiography (MRC) in evaluation of potential donors in living related liver transplantation. Patients and methods Twenty-five potential donors included in our study. All potential donors underwent 1st step medical examination and laboratory investigations to enter the 2nd step investigations with MSCT for calculation of the hepatic parenchymal CT density, reconstruction of hepatic vascular anatomy and CT volumetry. Magnetic Resonance cholangiography (MRC) and intra-operative cholangiography (IOC) were done on only 23 patients for biliary tree assessment. Results Of the 25 patients evaluated by MSCT, 23 patients (92%) were accepted. Two patients (8%) were excluded from surgery because of anatomical criteria, regarding portal vein variants based on CT findings. One showed right anterior portal vein arising from left portal vein and the other showed trifurcation of the main portal vein. Conclusion Multislice CT is a valuable tool in the evaluation of potential living liver donors that provides complete information on the hepatic vascular anatomy, the liver parenchyma, and volumetric measurements. MRC with a 3.0-T MR system demonstrates the preoperative biliary evaluation very well with a high accuracy rate.