Objective: To reconstruct the blood supply of hepatic artery of the recipient rat by a modified arterial "sleeve" anastomoses.
Methods: SD-SD and SD-Wistar rats liver transplantation were performed in 30 and 50 cases, respectively. The donor splenic artery, left gastric artery, right gastric artery and gastroduodenal artery were ligated, meanwhile the proper hepatic arteries were reserved. The celiac trunk of donors and the stump of right kidney artery of recipient were anastomosed by using 8-0 suture with "sleeve" technique.
Results: The mean time of artery anastomoses was 4.00 +/- 1.31 min. The rate of success was 96.3%. The longest survival time in the model SD-SD (29 survived) was more than 2 months. In SD-Wistar (48 survived), acute rejection was observed 3-5 days after operation and the mean survival time of rat was 9 d.
Conclusion: The modified arterial "sleeve" anastomoses is an effective method to reconstruct blood supply of hepatic artery of rat recipient in rat liver transplantation.