Angiographic, hemodynamic, and histologic evaluation of portal hypertension and periportal fibrosis induced in the dog by intraportal polyvinyl alcohol injections.

Embolization of Portal Vein Branches Induces Hepatocyte Replication in Swine: A Potential Step in Hepatic Gene Therapy

“…The slight elevation in hepatic enzyme levels after the procedure further indicates that lytic necrosis occurred but was not widespread. Although it is possible that more frequent serum sampling might have revealed evidence of substantial hepatic injury, our results and those of studies of portal branch occlusion in other animals (32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(42)(43)(44) suggest that little lytic necrosis occurs.…”

“…However, the extent of the increase was variable and mild. Other investigators (43,44,52,53) embolized all branches of the portal vein to create animal models of portal hypertension and found that portal pressure increased two-to fivefold after embolization. The difference in portal pressure elevations between these studies and ours most likely reflects differences in the degree of portal vein embolization.…”

“…Animal studies (39)(40)(41) of portal vein occlusion have shown that the hepatocytes in the embolized segments undergo apoptosis. Hepatocyte apoptosis likely explains the minimal alterations in liver function tests found in the human and animal studies (32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(42)(43)(44). Apoptosis also would explain why the embolized segments atrophy in humans (31,32,(34)(35)(36)(37)42).…”

Final Report On the Safety Assessment of Polyvinyl Alcohol

“…However, after 12 days of daily dosing with gentamicin (between 0 to 120 mg/kg), no difference was found in the response of Polyvinyl Alcohol-treated rats as compared to nontreated controls. Burgener, Gutierrez, and Logsdon (1982) used repeated intraportal injections of Polyvinyl Alcohol particles into male mongrel dogs to develop a model of hepatic cirrhosis. Portal hypertension and hepatic fibrosis were induced using Polyvinyl Alcohol ranging in size from 100-400 microns ; the particles were suspended in 0.9% NaCI solution.…”

Doppler Sonography of Hepatic Arterial Blood Flow Velocity After Percutaneous Transhepatic Portal Vein Embolization

“…Portal blood flow in a healthy individual is determined simply by the net outflow of the extrahepatic splanchnic organs. If portal blood flow is compromised, hepatic arterial blood flow increases to maintain total hepatic blood flow constant [1][2][3][4][5][6]. This arterial compensation has been known to occur after reduction of segmental portal blood flow [7,8].…”