Influence of hepatic artery ligation on survival. An experimental study in rats.

Interruption of the arterial blood supply to the liver has been used clinically for more than 15 years in patients with nonresectable liver tumors. The induced effect of hepatic artery occlusion on blood flow and metabolism has been studied extensively, whereas survival time has hardly been examined. Evidence of prolongation of survival after hepatic artery ligation, although not properly statistically analyzed, has been found in previous series of experimental animals, but the effect has not been established clinically. In this experimental study of rats with adenocarcinoma in the liver, a statistically significant prolongation of survival time was observed for the animals subjected to hepatic artery ligation when compared with untreated control animals. A statistically significant increase in body weight developed in all ligated animals during the experimental period, whereas the untreated control animals showed a statistically significant decrease in body weight.