Experimental Auxiliary Liver Homotransplantation

OF THE two types of liver transplantation, in situ replacement and heterotopic insertion, the latter has the advantage that hepatectomy in the recipient is not required. The magnitude of the operation involved in total hepatectomy adds to the mortality and morbidity of in situ replacement of the liver. Auxiliary liver transplantation is appealing because it might be applied in cases of acute or chronic liver failure or biliary atresia when hepatectomy might not be indicated. It might prove useful also as the initial operation of a staged total replacement.

The main problems of liver transplantation are, as in the case of other organs, basically immunological. Nevertheless, suitable techniques and methods also are important for further experimental studies. Several techniques of auxiliary liver transplantation have been described.^1-6 The purpose of the present study was to devise a relatively simple technique for heterotopic liver transplantation and to evaluate function of the