Temporary Exclusion of Liver from the Circulatory System

Abstract

Evidence for the specific contribution of the liver to a metabolic process has in the past been obtained by studies in animals after total hepatectomy. Because the physiological status of the animal is progressively impaired following hepatectomy, it seems desirable to utilize a procedure whereby the blood supply might be temporarily excluded from and then returned to the liver. The subsequent survival of the animal would then indicate the viability of the extrahepatic tissues during the period of isolation of the liver from its vascular supply. Under these circumstances the hepatic contribution to the metabolism of a given substance could be evaluated by a comparison of its utilization before, during, and after exclusion of the liver from the circulatory system. Mann,¹in 1921, described a three-stage procedure for total removal of the liver. In the first stage of his procedure a side-to-side portacaval anastomosis was made, followed by ligation