AUXILIARY LIVER-TRANSPLANTATION IN THE PIG WITHOUT PORTAL BLOOD - A STUDY OF A NEW TECHNIQUE FOR APPLICATION TO THE HETEROTOPIC HEPATIC XENOTRANSPLANT

An auxiliary liver transplantation surgical technique in the pig, in w hich the graft only receives blood flow via the hepatic artery since a n end-to-side portacaval shunt is performed in the donor animal prior to the transplantation, is described. The functional impairment of the receptor liver was done by a ligature of the choledoch, provoking dea th by sepsis in six of the transplanted animals at 8.16 +/- 6.61 days post transplantation. The auxiliary liver never suffered atrophy and p revented jaundice. It can be concluded that this simple surgical techn ique could be applied to the heterotopic xenotransplantation when the complications inherent in the immunological aggression are eliminated.