An electron microscopic study of the effects of portacaval shunts on the ultrastructure of the rat liver after partial hepatectomy.

The normally quiescent stable adult liver has a generous capacity for reparative hypertrophy and hyperplasia after loss of functional tissue. The large reserve of the liver's functional capacity permits survival of the animal even if over 70 per cent of its liver is removed. It retains an inherent capacity for regenerative growth which subsides once the original organ deficit is restored. This study attempted to resolve the question of whether alteration in hepatic hemodynamics affects the regenerative stimulus of the liver after partial (70 per cent) hepatectomy. It has shown that the liver remnant regenerates after reduction of portal blood flow by construction of a portacaval anastomosis. The diversion of blood from the liver exerts its own histologic and electron microscopic effects on the liver. Reduction of portal blood flow affects the temporal patterns of regeneration after partial hepatectomy but does not prevent completion of the regenerative process. Correlation of this study with the biochemical data available in the literature indicates that the structural changes in the cellular organelles during the process of regeneration reflect dynamic biochemical events that are based on a predetermined genetic code representing the key to life that is uniquely found in the liver.