Early jaundice after pig liver transplantation.

Of a series of pigs surviving orthotopic liver allotransplantation with end-to-end anastomosis of the bile duct, 70% were noted to be jaundiced at the end of the first week after transplantation. Seven animals in a subsequent series were investigated biochemically, but operative cholangiography, and by liver biopsy seven days after transplantation, when the jaundice was maximal. There was definite cholangiographic obstruction in only one animal, and this finding was subsequently confirmed at autopsy. This was also the only animal in which bile culture was positive. Jaundiced animals appeared to have more marked histological evidence of rejection than non-jaundiced ones. The jaundice was probably a result of transient rejection and usually resolved spontaneously without immunosuppression.