Auxiliary partial liver grafting in rats: effect of host hepatectomy on graft regeneration, and review of literature on surgical technique.

Auxiliary partial liver transplantation (APLT) is beneficial for fulminant liver failure when there is potential for recovery of the diseased liver. However, the impact of host hepatectomy on regeneration of the grafted liver is unclear. In this study, we modified a previous rat model of auxiliary whole liver transplantation without portal vein reconstruction, and studied the effect of host hepatectomy on regeneration of the cut liver graft. Thirty percent of the liver was heterotopically transplanted, to connect the recipient's left renal artery and vein with the graft's aortic cuff of the hepatic artery and inferior vena cava, respectively, using a cuff technique; 30% of the recipient liver then was cut. The control group was left intact. The liver grafts were weighed preoperatively and 2 weeks postoperatively. This procedure prevented congestion of the graft liver and achieved a high success rate, even when performed by a surgeon who was relatively inexperienced with the technique. The weight of the grafted liver in the host hepatectomized group significantly increased (P < 0.05) compared with that of the control group. We developed an experimental model of APLT and reviewed the literature on rat heterotopic liver transplantation, and compared the surgical techniques.