The value of hepatic artery reconstruction as a technique in rat liver transplantation.

The importance of hepatic artery reconstruction in the success of liver transplantation in the rat has been studied. Rat liver grafts were performed with or without reanastomosis of the hepatic artery, both in rejector and nonrejector donor/recipient combinations. No significant improvement in recipient survival was found when arterialization was performed, and histologic studies showed no differences in hepatocyte or bile duct architecture between arterialized and nonarterialized groups. Thus, arterialization does not make an important contribution to the outcome of liver transplantation in the rat; biliary complications associated with the nonarterialized method appear to be technique-related rather than the result of ischemia.