Related Experiment Videos
Functional hepatic flow in patients with liver cirrhosis
Zheng Pan1, Xing-Jiang Wu, Jie-Shou Li
1Research Institute of General Surgery, Nanjing General Hospital of Nanjing Command, No.305, Eastern Road of Zhongshan, Nanjing 210002, Jiangsu Province, China. pz2233@sina.com
Aim:
To evaluate hepatic reserve function by investigating the change of functional hepatic flow and total hepatic flow in cirrhotic patients with portal hypertension.
Methods:
HPLC method was employed for the determination of concentration of D-sorbitol in human plasma and urine. The functional hepatic flow (FHF) and total hepatic flow (THF) were determined by means of modified hepatic clearance of D-sorbitol combined with duplex doppler color sonography in 20 patients with cirrhosis and 10 healthy volunteers.
Results:
FHF, evaluated by means of the D-sorbitol clearance, was significantly reduced in patients with cirrhosis in comparison to controls (764.74+/-167.91 vs 1195.04+/-242.97 mL/min, P<0.01). While THF was significantly increased in patients with cirrhosis in comparison to controls (1605.23+/-279.99 vs 1256.12+/-198.34 mL/min, P<0.01). Portal blood flow and hepatic artery flow all were increased in cirrhosis compared to controls (P<0.05 and P<0.01). D-sorbitol total clearance was significantly reduced in cirrhosis compared to control (P<0.01), while D-sorbitol renal clearance was significantly increased in cirrhosis (P<0.05). In controls FHF was similar to THF (1195.05+/-242.97 vs 1256.12+/-198.34 mL/min, P=0.636), while FHF was significantly reduced compared with THF in cirrhosis (764.74+/-167.91 vs 1605.23+/-279.99 mL/min, P<0.01).
Conclusion:
Our method that combined modified hepatic clearance of D-sorbitol with duplex doppler color sonography is effective in the measurement of FHF and THF. FHF can be used to estimate hepatic reserve function.