Swine Partial Liver Transplantation Model for Practicing Living Donor Liver Transplantation Based on a New Liver Segmentation Method.

Background: Living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) is one of the most technically demanding and complicated procedures. However, unlike deceased donor liver transplantation, there is no suitable animal model for practicing LDLT. Herein, we propose a new liver segmentation method and a feasible pig LDLT model for practicing for LDLT in humans.

Methods: Four Landrace pigs weighing 25, 25, 27, and 28 kg were used as donors and recipients to establish a partial liver transplantation model. Partial liver transplantation was performed using a right liver and a left liver, respectively, based on a new segmentation system compatible with that of humans.

Results: We established a new segmentation system for porcine liver transplantation and a partial liver transplantation model. For right liver transplantation, 91 and 142 min were required to operate on the donor and recipient, respectively; for left liver transplantation, 57 and 104 min were required to operate on the donor and recipient, respectively. All pigs that underwent partial liver transplantation remained alive until the operation was completed.

Conclusions: It is expected that this new pig model based on the new segmentation system will be suitable as an educational tool for LDLT training and will replace the existing animal models for partial liver transplantation.