Hiroshima Journal of Medical Sciences Volume 36 Issue 2
published_at 1987-06

Improved Techniques for Orthotopic Liver Transplantation in Pigs: A preliminary study

SAKAGAMI Kenichi
TODA Kohtaro
NAKAI Hajime
HIGAKI Kenji
MORISAKI Futoshi
TAKASU Shinji
MIICHI Noboru
MORISUE Masahiro
SAITO Shinya
MIYAZAKI Masashi
FUCHIMOTO Sadanori
ORITA Kunzo
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Abstract
Orthotopic liver transplantations were performed on 12 pigs between November, 1986 and February, 1987. Survivals and causes of death were assessed according to the type of surgical procedure employed. Six operations were carried out according to the original procedure of Terblanche et al, whereas for other six animals, the transplantation was conducted by our modified procedure in which cannulation was made into the splenic vein without splenectomy at the veno-venous (v-v) bypass and a diaphragmatic cuff was used for the anastomosis of suprahepatic vena cava. 1/6 animals with original procedure and 5/6 with our modified procedure survived for more than 7 days. The total ischemic time was significantly short in the group subjected to the modified procedure. The major cause of death in the group on which the original procedure was conducted was gastric ulceration, accounting for 67% of the mortality, whereas in the modified procedure group, the mortality rate was reduced significantly to 17%. This operative technique has provided excellent survival rates in our transplanted animals.
Keywords
Orthotopic liver transplantation
Veno-venous bypass
Porcine liver