Morphological and biomechanical remodelling of the hepatic artery in a swine model of portal hypertension

To obtain the biomechanical and morphological remodelling of hepatic arteries in swine with portal hypertension. A number of 20 white pigs was used, of which 14 were subjected to liver cirrhosis and portal hypertension (PHT) induced by carbon tetrachloride and pentobarbital; the rest were used as the control group. The biomechanical remodelling of the hepatic arteries was measured, namely, the incremental elastic modulus (E inc), pressure–strain elastic modulus (E p), volume elastic modulus (E v), the incremental compliance (C), the opening angle and the stained microstructural components of the vessels. The percentages for the microstructural components and the histologic data significantly changed in the experimental group, three incremental elastic moduli (E inc, E p, and E v) of the experimental group were significantly larger than those of the control group (P