An Imaging and Histological Study on Intrahepatic Microvascular Passage of Contrast Materials in Rat Liver

Figure 3

Whole-body DR, liver microangiography, and macro- and microscopy in rats. (a) Plain DR of a whole-body rat with its carotid artery catheterized (arrow); (b) after the stepwise infusion of RIO through the carotid artery (arrow), the entire arterial network was visualized, but the angiographic details of the liver were masked due to overlapping with bony thorax; (c) the DR images from the excised liver of a rat after systemic infusion of RIO revealed the entire hepatic vascular tree that was mainly composed of intrahepatic PV branches. RIO often caused beaded-stream appearance in larger vessels due to its oily droplets; (d) the corresponding liver specimen; (e) macroscopic view of the hilus hepatis region shows the CBD (arrow) and the ligated PV to prevent the drainage from other abdominal organs; (f) infusion of RIO through the abdominal aorta stained the vessels and liver in red; (g) more magnified view of the dashed region from (f) revealed the red PVP on the surface of CBD; (h, i, j) photomicrographs from serial frozen sections on a portal triad demonstrate the gradual transition of RIO from the HA cavity through the PVP capillaries to the PV cavity with some RIO appearing hepatic sinusoids (original magnification ×200).

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