Diverting adrenal venous effluent through portal circulation in dogs.

Abstract

IT HAS BEEN shown abundantly that the liver can reduce or alter the biological activity of certain steroid hormones. 1-6 Perfusion studies in vitro have shown that gonadal and adrenal steroid hormones are metabolized by the liver. 5,6 There are many clinical and experimental observations relating the adrenal cortex to hypertension. It has been demonstrated that bilateral adrenalectomy abolishes experimental renal hypertension 7,8 ; adequate replacement therapy with adrenal cortical extract or desoxycorticosterone after adrenalectomy may fully reestablish experimental renal hypertension, 9 hypertensive vascular disease may be produced in rats by the administration of desoxycorticosterone and by the administration of a crude suspension of anterior pituitary gland. 10 Although there have been a few attempts to create adrenal vein-portal vein shunts, 11-13 the technique has not been entirely satisfactory. Complete diversion of the venous effluent of the adrenal is difficult to achieve due to the great number of vascular connections of