Blood flow simulation for the liver after a virtual right lobe hepatectomy.

In this paper we present a hybrid OD-3D modeling method to investigate the hepatic flow in a virtual right lobe hepatectomy (RLH), the surgical procedure for adult-to-adult living donor liver transplanation (LDLT). The 3D method is employed to simulate complex 3D flow in the portal vein, and the OD model is used to study the systemic hepatic circulation. In particular, we quantify the flow velocity and wall shear stress (WSS) in the left portal vein which increase dramatically post-RLH, and also simulate the essential hepatic distribution features in a healthy adult pre- and post-procedure. We further predict the arterial flow in the remnant left liver, which would decrease due to a hepatic arterial buffer response (HABR) effect. Finally we discuss the physiological significance of these phenomena, and the potential of this hybrid modeling approach.