Orthotopic liver transplantation in an adult with situs inversus: an easy way to fit the liver

Abstract

Situs inversus (SI) is a rare congenital disorder with a complete mirror image of thoracic and abdominal organs. In adults with SI and decompensated cirrhosis experience with liver transplantation is limited. Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) in an adult with cirrhosis using a technique where the recipient liver was placed using a 90-degree rotation of the graft was previously reported by Klintmalm et al, however no other reports using this technique have been described. We report a case of a 41 year-old man with situs inversus and decompensated cirrhosis who successfully underwent OLT using this technique. The donor liver was rotated 90-degrees towards the left and easily fitted into the recipients'fossa with the left lobe pointing toward the left lower quadrant. The patient had an uneventful recovery and has been followed for 21 months without any complications. This technique has the advantage of preventing compromise of the size of the donor liver, permits an easy reconstruction of vascular and biliary tree and in this case was associated with an excellent outcome.