Postoperative haemodynamic changes in transplanted liver: Long-term follow-up with ultrasonography

Objective: To investigate haemodynamic changes in the transplanted liver without postoperative complications. Methods: Colour Doppler ultrasound was used to monitor recipients of liver transplants who had no postoperative complications. The haemodynamic data for the hepatic vasculature were compared at different time-points during the first 4 years after liver transplantation. Results: A total of 144 liver transplant patients were enrolled in the study. Portal vein flow velocity decreased significantly from 72.1 +/- 30.3 cm/s at 1 day to 44.2 +/- 20.1 cm/s at 1 month after liver transplantation. Hepatic artery flow velocity was 61.4 +/- 33.2 cm/s at day 1; it then decreased slowly but significantly to 48.3 +/- 20.4 cm/s at 3 years after transplantation. There were 81 (56.3%) patients with high hepatic artery resistance index (HARI) (>0.80) and 19 (13.2%) with low HARI (<0.50) measured at least once during the 4-year follow-up examination. Conclusions: Decreased portal vein flow velocity was the typical change observed during the first month after liver transplantation. Abnormal haemodynamic Doppler results should be interpreted with caution because they may not be clinically significant and may improve spontaneously.