Studies on the functional ability of swine liver perfused with human blood in machine recirculation attempt. Experiment design, elimination of indocyanine green, galactose, bilirubin and ammonia, synthesis of urea, bile secretion

In 11 machine experiments of recirculation the abilities of survival and functioning of livers of dwarf pigs perfused with human preserved blood were tested with the help of the eliminations of indocyanine green, galactose, bilirubin and ammonia from a closed circulation. Further urea-nitrogen were measured as indicator of the urea synthesis and bile secretion. The perfusion of the animal livers was carried out in 9 cases only through the portal vein. The values of the blood flow were between 0.4 and 1.0ml pro g liver tissue and minute in portal pressure values about 15 cm water column. Two recirculations were carried out with additional flow through the hepatic artery with about 1/5 of the whole blood flow. The results of the experiments described prove a pretty good functional performance of the perfused with human blood livers of dwarf pigs during several hours. The different animal livers, however, showed at the beginning as well as during the further course of the perfusion clear differences concerning their functional capacity. Decrease of the blood flow values below 0.5 ml pro g liver tissue lead to functional loss. The additional flow through the hepatic artery yielded no better results, compared with the only perfusion of the animal liver through the portal vein.