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Heterotopic Partial Autotransplantation of Rat Liver: Technic and Demonstration of Structure and Function of the Graft^*

( U. S. Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory, San Francisco, California; and Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri)

Previous attempts to heterotopically autograft parts of liver were reviewed. This review suggested that both adequate bile drainage and adequate blood flow were necessary for successful autografting of hepatic tissue. A two-stage procedure for the subcutaneous autotransplantation of the median lobe of the rat's liver by pedicle transfer was modified from Seneviratne's procedure. The modified technic, which separated the graft from the hepatic blood supply but preserved the bile drainage pathway, resulted in preservation of one-fourth to one-third of the mass of the median lobe with relatively normal structure and function for at least 1 year. This study demonstrated that hepatocytes in autografts could be maintained with normal relationship to bile ducts in the absence of portal blood, if collateral blood supply and biliary drainage were competent. Potential uses of partial autografts of liver for studying certain aspects of hepatic physiology were indicated.

^* This investigation was supported in part by the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, U. S. Navy and in part by U. S. Public Health Service Research Grant AM-07568. Opinions contained herein are those of the authors and are not to be construed as official views of the Department of Defense.

Received 4/13/64.