INTRAOPERATIVE ASSESSMENT BY LASER-DOPPLER FLOWMETRY OF HEPATIC PERFUSION DURING ORTHOTOPIC LIVER-TRANSPLANTATION IN THE RAT

Due to improved surgical techniques and the introduction of safe and effective immunosuppressive agents, OLT has become a therapeutic option in the treatment of end-stage liver diseases. Despite its high rate of success, vascular problems including hepatic artery (HA)(*) thrombosis still occur after OLT. Thus, it has become increasingly popular to include measurement of liver blood flow during the OLT operation. Characteristically after organ implantation, either electromagnetic flow (1) or Doppler ultrasound flow probes (2-5) are fitted to the HA and portal vein (PV) and flow is measured. Probably due to the risk of bleeding while fitting the flow probes, intraoperative measurement of liver blood flow is normally performed only after the completion of all vascular anastomoses. Other techniques for the measurement of hepatic perfusion, for example, inert gas clearance (6), have not been used during the OLT operation.