AJP - Heart and Circulatory Physiology, Vol 257, Issue 6 1971-H1976, Copyright © 1989 by American Physiological Society
Effect of arteriovenous fistula size on arterialized and host livers in rats
M. D'Silva, E. Glassford, S. Bai, A. R. Moossa and S. Lee
San Diego Microsurgical Institute and Training Center, Mercy Hospital, California 92103.
In studying the hemodynamic relationship and behavior of peak blood flow
indexes at different sizes of arteriovenous fistulas (AVF) using
arterialized partial liver transplants (PLT), 96 male Wistar rats served as
donors and recipients of heterotopic PLT in an acute phase study using
ether anesthesia. AVF of 1, 2, and 3 mm were compared with a control group
(0 mm) along the "index of peak perfusion rate" of blood flow, the
dependent variable. We found that with increasing AVF sizes, a progressive
fall in the peak blood flow in the host livers (P less than 0.01, r =
-0.51) and a similar rise in the same index in the graft livers (P less
than 0.01, r = +0.76) were documented. Also noted was a gradual fall in the
cardiac pulsatility component of perfusion to both host and graft livers at
AVF sizes of 2 and 3 mm. The same component of perfusion to host and graft
livers was best at AVF size of 1 mm. It was concluded that a 1-mm AVF
provided the best degree of arterialization to a PLT.
