Transjugular hepatic vein cannulation in rats with nonisotopic in vivo verification.

A simple, rapid and relatively atraumatic method for transjugular cannulation of the hepatic vein and for repeated sampling of hepatic venous blood in the rat is described. Preliminary in vivo verification of the cannula's position is proposed, either by using the glucose differential between consecutive samples of the hepatic venous blood and inferior vena cava blood, or more practically, by using the glucose differential between the hepatic venous blood and tail blood obtained simultaneously. The latter procedure is favored because of its technical simplicity.