USE OF MAGNETIC-RESONANCE ANGIOGRAPHY IN THE PRETRANSPLANT EVALUATIONOF PORTAL-VEIN PATHOLOGY

The assessment of portal vein patency in patients selected as candidat es for orthotopic liver transplantation should be accomplished noninva sively and with great accuracy. Magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) i s a new technique that is completely noninvasive and is capable of gra phically assessing portal vein anatomy and blood flow. In an attempt t o establish the accuracy of portal venous MRA, 74 patients with establ ished cirrhosis underwent abdominal MRA prior to liver transplantation . MRA findings were correlated with surgical findings at the time of t ransplantation in all patients, and were shown to be extremely accurat e. The three-dimensional images generated by MRA and computer postproc essing allowed for correct identification of portal venous anatomy in all of the patients examined. We conclude that MRA is an extremely use ful method of determining portal venous anatomy in potential liver tra nsplant patients, and potentially offers greater definition and clarit y compared with other non-invasive methods.