Clinical Application Of Color Doppler Flow Imaging In Prediction Of Postoperative Complications In Patients With End-Stage Hepatic Alveolar Echinococcosis Undergoing Autologous Liver Transplantation: A Review Of The Literature And Case Reports

Objective: To investigate the clinical application of color Doppler flow imaging (CDFI) in the diagnosis of postoperative complications in patients with end-stage hepatic alveolar echinococcosis (HAE) undergoing autologous liver transplantation (ALT). Methods: We described 27 patients with end-stage HAE examined by CDFI to observe the presence of short- and long-term complications after ALT. Normal and abnormal images of the hepatic parenchyma, biliary tract, hepatic artery, portal vein, hepatic vein, inferior vena cava, and splanchnocoele were observed and analyzed. Results: The average follow-up was 0.1-31 months (mean duration: 4.02 +/- 6.37 months). Among the 27 patients, 25 patients revealed various abnormal ultrasonographic findings after ALT (25/27, 92.6%) Twelve patients (44.4%) showed disseminated/regional changes in the echogenicity of the hepatic parenchyma, 4 patients (14.8%) showed biliary abnormalities, 4 cases (14.8%) showed hepatic artery abnormalities, 9 patients (33.3%) presented portal vein complications, 2 cases (7.4%) showed hepatic vein abnormalities, 3 patients (11.1%) revealed inferior vena cava abnormalities, 19 patients (70.4%) had ascites, 26 patients (96.3%) had hydrothorax, 1 patient (3.7%) recurred, and 7 patients (25.9%) died Conclusion CDFI is valuable for dynamic monitoring of postoperative complications in patients with end-stage HAE undergoing ALT, especially for the early stages after the operation.