OPERATING ON THE LIVER - EVOLUTION OF LIV ER SURGERY

For centuries, the evolution of liver and portal surgery has been a ra ther slow process. While important anatomic details were already known in the 17th century, the first successful partial liver resection - w hich took place in 1888 - required the invention of anaesthesia and an tisepsis as well as progress in experimental medicine in the 19th cent ury. Development of blood donation, anaesthesiology and intensive care medicine and a deepened understanding of liver anatomy in the first h alf of the 20th century ushered in the modern era of liver surgery. Wi th liver transplantation, split liver transplantation and the living-d onor concept this has reached an unforeseen climax.