The impact of liver steatosis on the postoperative evolution after right lobe living-donor hepatectomy

Living donor liver transplantation has become a feasible treatment modality for end-stage liver disease. The obesity epidemic worldwide has made it increasingly common to encounter liver steatosis in living donor candidates. The aim of study was to analyze the impact of moderate hepatic steatosis on the postoperative evolutions after right lobe living-donor hepatectomy. Living donors who underwent donor hepatectomy during the period 2000 to 2020 in two medical centers were included in this study. We distinguished 3 groups based on the degree of steatosis: Group O - 0%, Group I - 1-10% and Group II >10%. A total number of 157 living donors underwent surgery, of whom 112 (71.34%) were right lobe liver donors. There were 62 without steatosis, 31 - with steatosis 1-10% and 19 with steatosis >10%. No difference has been found in proportion of men, median of age, body mass index and left lobe/total liver volume ration in compared groups. Total liver volume was significantly higher in the Group I than in the Group O (p=0.028). The moderate hepatic steatosis (HS) group presented significant higher volume of intraoperative hemorrhage than no-HS group (p=0.041). No differences were observed in the postoperative liver function between the groups. The minimal HS group comprised a significantly higher proportion of postoperative complications than no-HS group (67.7% vs 40.3%, p=0.043). The longer postoperative length of hospital stay in ICU was observed in Group I than in Group O (p=0.024). Moderate HS does not importantly impair living liver donors' safety.