[Investigations with 3H-thymidine and electron microscopical studies in rat livers following thermocoagulation of the thoracic duct at the base of the neck (author's transl)].

Autoradiographic studies with 3H-thymidine were done in 90 male and female white Sprague Dawley rats following thermocoagulation of the thoracic duct at the base of the neck. In the acute stages of these experiments we were unable to find any significant influence of a lymphedema on the hepatocytes and Kupffer cells. In the longterm experiments the labelling indices of the hepatocytes were slightly above those of healthy controls of the same age. In another 14 male and female white Sprague Dawley rats we did electron microscopical investigations of the liver. In the acute phase of the experiment we found an intra- and extrahepatic edema as well as damages of the hepatocytes at the periphery of the liver acini. After 12-15 days these findings have regressed. It seems therefore that an intrahepatic lymphedema does not influence the regenerative capacity of the liver to a marked extent.