Rejection and survival of auxiliary partial liver grafts in non-tissue-typed pigs

A technique for auxiliary heterotopic transplantation of 60% of the liver has been developed in the pig to study acute and chronic rejection. Transplantations were performed in 13 non-tissue-typed donor-recipient combinations without immunosuppressive medication. Three pigs died in the 1st postoperative week from technical problems. In the remaining 10 animals acute rejection of the graft was not found, but signs of chronic rejection developed in 6 animals. It is concluded that auxiliary partial liver transplantation is technically feasible in the pig. Although the auxiliary liver graft is subject to immune attack, long-term graft survival without immunosuppressive medication can be achieved.