[Hepatic coma - experimental study with swine (part 1)].

An acute coma hepaticum was produced in 8 pigs by means of one intraperitoneal dose of thioacetamide. Distinct changes in the behaviour of the animals, changes of the biochemical parameters inclusively the enzyme pattern with a typical lesion pattern of the liver parenchyma and a displacement of the plasma amino acids were shown. All pathological changes in comparison with the normal animal characterize the liver insufficiency after 24 hours as a comatose state. This acute toxic model serves as the base for investigations within the physiology of nutrition about parenteral feeding of L-amino acid mixtures in coma hepaticum. The nearly exclusive hepatotropic lesion degree of thioacetamide is suitable as an experimental model for this purpose.