SELECTIVE PORTAL-VEIN EMBOLIZATION WITH ABSOLUTE ETHANOL INDUCES HEPATIC HYPERTROPHY AND MAKES MORE EXTENSIVE HEPATECTOMY POSSIBLE

Portal vein embolization has been used recently to decrease the amount of the Liver to be resected and to enhance the function of the remain ing hypertrophied lobes, We have observed a strong contact destructivi ty of absolute ethanol and used it for portal vein embolization. The p resent study was performed to produce hepatic hypertrophy and to show histopathologic changes that follow ethanol embolization of rat liver, Hepatic proliferation and histopathology were studied in rats receivi ng low and high doses of absolute ethanol via portal vein and rats und ergoing 70% hepatectomy alone. The liver weight of the unresected and unembolized lobes increased rapidly after embolization and hepatectomy . Although the increase was more rapid in the high-dose group than the low-dose group in early days, the final results were not different fr om each other and were almost equal to those after hepatectomy. Comple te obstruction of portal venous branches and massive necrosis were the main histopathologic observations after portal vein embolization with all doses of ethanol. Because the mortality rate in the low-dose grou p was lower than in the high-dose group and extensive necrosis of the liver parenchyma and subsequent regeneration was sufficient, using min imum dose of ethanol was much safer, Based on the biochemical and hema tologic parameters, portal vein embolization with low-dose ethanol did not impair liver function more than hepatectomy alone during the init ial 14 days, Portal vein embolization with absolute ethanol makes more extensive hepatectomy possible by reducing the volume necessary to re sect and preserves the function of the remaining liver.