Pathophysiological changes after local heating of rat liver

Changes in blood flow in rat liver by local heating of the left lateral lobe were studied. A small portion of the left lateral lobe was heated by capacitive application of 8 MHz RF with a 2 cm diameter electrode on the ventral surface and a 7 cm diameter electrode on the dorsal surface of upper body of rats. A circular area with diameter of about 1 cm in the left lateral lobe could be heated to relatively homogeneous temperatures. The temperature in the remaining part of the left lateral lobe as well as in the rest of liver tissue also increased to varying degrees during the local heating of the left lateral lobe. When heated at 39° or 41°C for 45 min, the arterial blood flow, as measured with the radioactive microsphere method, in the heated area, and that in the rest of the left lateral lobe as well as in the whole liver initially increased during the first 30 min and then started to decline. During a 45 min heating at 43°C, the arterial blood flow in the heated area slightly increased for 15 min and then significantly decreased thereafter. The arterial blood flow in the rest of the liver tissue also increased during the first 15 min of a 43°C heating and began to decline. Histological examination of liver heated at 43°C for 30 min showed wedge-shaped infarctions early on, which appeared to be organized into scar tissue by 7 days after heating. The concentrations of glutamic oxaloacetic transminase (GOT), glutamic pyruvic transaminase (GPT), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in the serum significantly increased 2 hr after heating the small portion of the left lateral lobe at 43°C for 30 min and began to decrease thereafter although the serum level of GOT and GPT was still greater than the control value 24 hr after heating.