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Updated: Aug 11, 2026
Porcine Liver Transplantation Without Veno-Venous Bypass As an Extended Criteria Donor Model
Published on: August 17, 2022
Extended liver resection and hepatic ischemia in pigs: a new, potentially reversible model to induce acute liver
R Ladurner1, B Hochleitner, S Schneeberger
1Department of General and Transplant Surgery, Innsbruck University Hospital, Innsbruck, Austria. ruth.ladurner@med.uni-tuebingen.de
Background:
Extended hepatectomy is a valid model for the study of acute liver failure. Since the porcine liver is comparable in size, morphology and anatomy to the human liver, we describe a technique employing hepatic ischemia and extended liver resection to induce acute liver failure in a porcine model as a means of studying bioartificial liver support.
Method:
A subtotal (75-80% resection) extended left hepatectomy was performed in 7 pigs after 60 min warm ischemia of the future remnant liver. After resection, the animals were given the best supportive care and observed until death.
Results:
All animals died within 18-48 h, none as a result of surgical complications. Gross appearance of the liver showed severe steatosis of the right lateral lobe, and histology revealed severe coagulative necrosis of the whole lobule.
Conclusion:
This technique of extended liver resection after hepatic ischemia in the porcine model may be useful for studies of potentially reversible acute liver failure and experimental bioartificial support.
