Orthotopic Liver Homotransplantation

Abstract

MOST of the plasma factors responsible for blood coagulation are produced in the liver. It is therefore of interest to follow the maintenance or disruption of this function that occurs in the postoperative period following homotransplantation of a liver to a hepatectomized animal. Such studies provide a clinically useful measure of the protein synthesizing ability of the transplanted liver and also give further insight into the physiological role of this organ. The profile of the coagulative and fibrinolytic changes observed in the otherwise untreated recipient of a liver also provides a basis for the planning of future clinical management of human cases. Several groups of workers have studied these changes following liver transplantation in dogs (Starzl et al,¹Von Kaulla et al,²Rutherford and Hardaway,³and Stremple et al⁴) and in humans (Starzl et al¹and Von Kaulla et al²). Because of the absence