Pancreatic autotransplantation in the pig: variations in epigastric arterial blood supply.

A major problem in pancreatic autotransplantation is the vascular supply of the left segment, which serves as the graft. We therefore examined the arterial blood supply of the epigastric organs in 36 German landrace pigs. In 19 pigs (anatomical variation 1) there was a pancreatic branch of the splenic artery supplying the left segment. After splenectomy the splenic artery could be used as the graft-supplying vessel. In 14 pigs (anatomical variation 2) the arterial branch for the left segment was the first branch out of the hepatic artery distal to the coeliac trunk. In these cases a splenohepatic bypass was performed to ensure delivery of the blood to the epigastric organs. Thereafter, the proximal part of the hepatic artery could be used as the vessel supplying the graft. The left segment could not be used for autotransplantation in 3 pigs (anatomical variation 3) because of the atypical vascular supply. During the 6-month observation period, no malfunction of the epigastric organs was evident.