J.Jpn. Surg. Soc.. 85(9): 878-881, 1984

---

Report on the annual meeting

OCCLUSION (LIGATION) OF A BRANCH OF THE PORTAL VEIN FOR CARCINOMA OF THE LIVER

Rous and Larimore reported that ligation of a branch of the portal vein in rabbits resulted in atrophy of the corresponding hepatic lobe together with hypertrophy of the other lobe. Hirono, one of my collaborators, observed that experimentally produced carcinoma of the liver regressed more or less after ligation of a branch of the portal vein supplying the tumor-bearing area. Kozaka also demonstrated experimentally that occlusion of the portal blood supply to the area destined to be resected caused no serious impairment on the animals even those with liver damage.
The principle of this operative procedure is ligation of the right or left branch of the portal vein supplying the affected hepatic lobe. Ligation of one branch was used for tumors confined to one hepatic lobe, and right portal branch ligation combined with lateral segmentectomy was used for multiple tumors, sparing only the middle hepatic lobe.
The operation was performed in twenty patients with carcinoma of the liver. An average survival after operation is 13.6 months in 12 patients with primary carcinoma and 10.6 months in 7 patients with metastatic one excluding one patient now living over 16 years after surgery.

---

---

To read the PDF file you will need Adobe Reader installed on your computer.