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

Figure 4

Stepwise hepatic arteriography and histomorphology from a rat liver. (a) An excised rat liver with the HA catheterized; (b) DR before contrast injection; (c, d, e, f) microangiograms after stepwise infusion of BSS into the HA display initial HA tree (c) followed gradually by predominance of the PV branches (f) without discernable HA-PV interconnections due to limited spatial resolution; (g, h, i) photomicrographs of a hematoxylin-eosin- (HE-) stained paraffin section focusing on a portal triad exhibit the cavities of the HA and PVP filled with yellow-greenish BSS granules that start to appear in the PV cavity but not in sinusoids and surrounding central veins (original magnifications of 50, 100, and 200); (j, k, l) microscopic HE-stained views of another portal triad from the same rat capture the moment when the BSS enters the PV cavity through a tiny anastomosis (arrow) from a PVP capillary (original magnifications of 100, 200, and 400); (m, n, o) photomicrographs of a HE-stained slice from the same group show full presence of BSS granules in the cavities of the PV and PVP despite having been injected through the HA with BSS starting to enter the surrounding sinusoids (original magnifications of 50, 100, and 400). Green arrow points the bile duct.

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