[Experimental and clinical studies on regeneration of the cirrhotic liver after major hepatectomy: comparison with the volume and function of the normal liver during recovery].

Experimental and clinical studies on the role of liver cirrhosis in the impaired hepatic regeneration after major hepatectomy were done comparing the changes of liver function measured by indocyanine green tolerance and hepaplastin test. In experimental cirrhosis induced by dimethylnitrosamine administration, canine livers revealed that the recovery of volume after 70% hepatectomy was slow but efficient in survivors. Two patients who had hepatic lobectomy with normal remaining liver showed complete recovery in both volume and function, but 2 patients with remaining liver of non-cirrhotic fibrosis showed slow recovery of liver function. Two cirrhotic survivors after lobectomy and segmentectomy revealed very slow recovery in function but gained sufficient volume. The study indicated that increased efficiency of liver function in the early stage of regeneration supported by effective hepatic blood flow was essential for the successive recovery of hepatic volume and for the survival in liver cirrhosis.