Experimental production of cystic dilatation of the common bile duct in neonatal lambs.

A reliable experimental model for the study of cystic dilatation of the extrahepatic biliary system has been produced purely by ligation of the distal end of the common bile duct in the newborn lamb. Six of nine experimental lambs surviving the immediate postoperative period lived for periods ranging from 27 to 40 days. All six developed cystic dilatation of the common bile duct.