Surgical text for orthotopic liver transplantation model with small-for-size graft in the pig: key techniques and pitfalls.

Background: Challenges with small-for-size grafts are a critical issue in the liver transplantation field, and a reliable and reproducible animal model is required.

Method: We performed 50 orthotopic liver transplantations in pigs with a 30% graft, and retrospectively investigated the learning curves. We modified our surgical procedures according to our experience.

Significance of portal venous VEGF during liver regeneration after hepatectomy.

Background: Although some studies have hypothesized portal venous blood is important for liver regeneration, no studies have established organs whose venous effluent flow into the portal vein secrete liver regenerating factors into the portal vein during liver regeneration. The aim of this study was to elucidate up-regulation of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the portal vein, and expressions of hepatic regenerating factors in organs whose venous effluent flows into the portal vein during liver regeneration.

Materials And Methods: VEGF protein in systemic and portal venous blood, as well as expression of VEGF, hypoxia-inducible factor-1alfa (HIF-1alpha), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), and HGF activator (HGFA) mRNA were evaluated in the regenerating liver, spleen, and intestine following 70% partial hepatectomy (PHx) in rats.

Assessment of cardiac output in liver transplantation recipients.

Background: Liver cirrhosis causes peculiar systemic hemodynamics, and accurate evaluation of systemic hemodynamic state is important for cirrhotic recipients who underwent living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). We investigated the clinical advantages of a novel non-invasive method for measuring systemic hemodynamic parameters using indocyanine green (ICG).

Methods: Twenty-eight LDLT recipients were evaluated.

Optimal systemic hemodynamic stability for successful clinical outcomes after adult living-donor liver transplantation: prospective observational study.

Background And Aim: Most living-donor liver transplantation (LDLT) recipients show characteristic systemic hemodynamics due to liver cirrhosis, and systemic hemodynamics after LDLT influenced postoperative graft function corresponding to outcomes. However, identities of optimal systemic hemodynamics for excellent outcomes and precise parameters for clinical strategy remain unclear.

Methods: Therefore, we performed prospective study in adult LDLT recipients from 2003.

Alloantigen-specific prolongation of allograft survival in recipient mice treated by alloantigen immunization following ultraviolet-B irradiation.

It is well documented that ultraviolet (UV) radiation present in sunlight suppresses immune responses. However, the majority of studies documenting the immunosuppressive effects of UV irradiation have been carried out in animals exposed to UV irradiation before immunization. Here, we report that recipient mice exposed to UV irradiation 7 days after immunization with a donor alloantigen exhibited prolongation of allograft survival in an alloantigen-specific manner.

Stability of cirrhotic systemic hemodynamics ensures sufficient splanchnic blood flow after living-donor liver transplantation in adult recipients with liver cirrhosis.

Aim: To investigate the correlation between systemic hemodynamics and splanchnic circulation in recipients with cirrhosis undergoing living-donor liver transplantation (LDLT), and to clarify how systemic hemodynamics impact on local graft circulation after LDLT.

Methods: Systemic hemodynamics, indocyanine green (ICG) elimination rate (K ICG) and splanchnic circulation were simultaneously and non-invasively investigated by pulse dye densitometry (PDD) and ultrasound. Accurate estimators of optimal systemic hyperdynamics after LDLT [i.

Hyperglycemia and diabetic renal change in a model of polyvinyl alcohol bioartificial pancreas transplantation.

Objectives: We have developed a bioartificial pancreas transplantation method using polyvinyl alcohol. Using this model, the relationship between hyperglycemia and parameters that represent renal function was investigated.

Methods: Plasma glucose, 1,5-anhydro-d-glucitol (1,5-AG), and renal factors including plasma urea nitrogen and creatinine levels, urine volume, glucose, and albumin were examined once a week for 9 weeks in diabetic mice with or without transplantation of encapsulated rat islets, and in normal C57BL/6 mice.

Noradrenalin-secreting retroperitoneal schwannoma resected by hand-assisted laparoscopic surgery: report of a case.

A 66-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital for investigation of a retroperitoneal mass. She was asymptomatic but her serum noradrenalin and vanillylmandellic acid levels were increased remarkably. Computed tomographic angiography showed a mass in the left side of the superior mesenteric artery (SMA) divergence, 6 x 4 cm in size, supplied mainly by the left adrenal artery.

K(ICG) value, a reliable real-time estimator of graft function, accurately predicts outcomes in adult living-donor liver transplantation.

Reliable monitoring enabling evaluation of graft function is crucial after living-donor liver transplantation (LDLT). A method to identify poor graft function at an early postoperative period would allow opportune intensive clinical management to bring about further improvements in LDLT outcomes. This study assessed the reliability of the indocyanine green (ICG) elimination rate constant (K(ICG)) value as an estimator of graft function and determined the actual temporal changes of K(ICG) after LDLT.