title: An Imaging and Histological Study on Intrahepatic Microvascular Passage of Contrast Materials in Rat Liver.
abstract: Background. Lipiodol has been applied for decades in transarterial chemoembolization to treat liver malignancies, but its intrahepatic pathway through arterioportal shunt (APS) in the liver has not been histologically revealed. This rodent experiment was conducted to provide evidence for the pathway of Lipiodol delivered through the hepatic artery (HA) but found in the portal vein (PV) and to elucidate the observed unidirectional APS.Methods. Thirty rats were divided into 5 groups receiving systemic or local arterial infusion of red-stained iodized oil (RIO) or its hydrosoluble substitute barium sulfate suspension (BSS), or infusion of BSS via the PV, monitored by real-time digital radiography. Histomorphology of serial frozen and paraffin sections was performed and quantified.Results. After HA infusion, RIO and BSS appeared extensively in PV lumens with peribiliary vascular plexus (PVP) identified as the responsible anastomotic channel. After PV infusion, BSS appeared predominantly in the PV and surrounding sinusoids and to a much lesser extent in the PVP and HA (P< 0.001). Fluid mechanics well explains the one-way-valve phenomenon of APS.Conclusions. Intravascularly injected rat livers provide histomorphologic evidences: (1) the PVP exists in between the HA and PV, which is responsible to the APS of Lipiodol; and (2) the intrahepatic vascular inflow appears HA-PVP-PV unidirectional without a physical one-way valve, which can be postulated by the fluid mechanics.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 160 Pu Jian Road, Shanghai 200127, China; Department of Imaging and Pathology, University Hospitals, KU Leuven, Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3318-1691
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.affiliation: Department of Imaging and Pathology, University Hospitals, KU Leuven, Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Yuanbo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Department of Imaging and Pathology, University Hospitals, KU Leuven, Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 160 Pu Jian Road, Shanghai 200127, China; Department of Imaging and Pathology, University Hospitals, KU Leuven, Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Yewei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Imaging and Pathology, University Hospitals, KU Leuven, Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Guozhi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 160 Pu Jian Road, Shanghai 200127, China.
authors.forename: Jianjun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 160 Pu Jian Road, Shanghai 200127, China.
authors.forename: Linjun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.affiliation: Department of Imaging and Pathology, University Hospitals, KU Leuven, Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Robin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Willemyns
authors.affiliation: Department of Imaging and Pathology, University Hospitals, KU Leuven, Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Imaging and Pathology, University Hospitals, KU Leuven, Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Raymond
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Oyen
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 160 Pu Jian Road, Shanghai 200127, China.
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Imaging and Pathology, University Hospitals, KU Leuven, Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Yicheng
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-8553-7565
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ni
mesh_terms: D000792:Angiography; D000818:Animals; D001466:Barium Sulfate / Q000737:chemistry; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D003287:Contrast Media / Q000737:chemistry; D004998:Ethiodized Oil / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D006499:Hepatic Artery / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D007459:Iodized Oil / Q000737:chemistry; D008099:Liver / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008297:Male; D008833:Microcirculation; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D011169:Portal Vein / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D001466:Barium Sulfate; D007459:Iodized Oil; D004998:Ethiodized Oil