Liver transplantation in swine without venovenous bypass.

INTRODUCTION

A model of orthotopic liver transplantation in swine was developed to investigate an advanced reperfusion approach. Thereby, we consciously disclaim otherwise commonly practiced venovenous bypass during the recipient operation.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Ten liver transplantations were performed according to the described technique without using venovenous bypass. In each swine the observation period was 48 h.

RESULTS

All transplantations were carried out after a median cold ischemic time of 307.5 min (295-340); the median warm ischemic time in these cases was 25 min (20-32). Eight of 10 swine survived 48 h after the operation.

CONCLUSION

Orthotopic liver transplantations in the recipient swine are feasible even without using venovenous bypass.