Anatomical variation and its management in transplantation

Abstract

Variant anatomy may be challenging at retrieval, with failure to identify variance being associated with organ damage, particularly vascular damage. On implantation, some variants demand nonstandard techniques of reconstruction or implantation. This review covers the common and less common anatomical variants of the liver, kidney and pancreas, and gives guidance as to how they may be managed during organ retrieval and implantation.

Keywords: Clinical research / practice; anatomy; organ procurement and allocation; organ transplantation in general; surgical technique.