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 which the graft only receives blood flow via the hepatic artery since an 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 death by sepsis in six of the transplanted animals at 8.16 +/- 6.61 days post transplantation. The auxiliary liver never suffered atrophy and prevented jaundice. It can be concluded that this simple surgical technique could be applied to the heterotopic xenotransplantation when the complications inherent in the immunological aggression are eliminated.