Heterotopic Auxiliary Rat Liver Transplantation With Flow-regulated Portal Vein Arterialization in Acute Hepatic Failure

Acute hepatic failure poses a severe problem in clinical medicine leading to a mortality rate of 60 to 80%in acute hepatic failure. Auxiliary liver transplantation is a promising alternative therapy. After regeneration of the native liver, the immunosuppression can be discontinued and the liver graft can be explanted or left to atrophy.

However, the operative technique for auxiliary liver transplantation is controversial. The APOL method that is the orthotopic implantation of auxiliary segments averts most of the technical problems that could arise. However, this method necessitates extensive resections of both the native liver and the graft.