Unilateral ischemic preconditioning and heterologous preconditioning in living donor liver transplantation.

Ischemic preconditioning (IP) exerts a protective effect on tissues undergoing prolonged ischemia. No studies have been performed to assess the clinical impact of IP on normal human liver used for living donor transplantation (LDLT). Heterologous preconditioning (HP) protects liver tissue as demonstrated in a rat model. Our study investigates the impact that IP and HP have on the donor and recipient liver in LDLT. Twenty candidates for living donor right hepatectomy were divided in two groups. The study group underwent 10' unilateral ischemia by clamping the right portal vein and hepatic artery at the end of the parenchymal transection. Demographics, laboratory values, biopsy studies, IL-1Ra, Ki-67, and CytoDEATH stains were compared. The results show that 10' ischemia does not exert significant clinical and laboratory changes in living donor hepatectomy candidates.