[Possibility of dynamic control over portal pressure in chronic hepatitis using Doppler ultrasonography]

Portal pressure (PP) was studied in 64 patients with chronic viral hepatitis (CVH) type B and C; Doppler ultrasonography and a special empiric formula of PP calculation, the reliability of which was confirmed by the results of invasive splenoportometry, were applied. The control group consisted of 40 practically healthy individuals. In the healthy PP was 11.3 +/- 0.44 mbar; in patients with minimal activity of CVH-- 12.005 +/- 0.739 mbar (p > 0.05), in patients with moderate CVH activity-- 16.704 +/- 1.416 mbar; in patients with high CVH activity-- 19.326 +/- 1.048 mbar (p < 0.05). The results show that CVH leads to portal hypertension, the degree of which depends on the activity of the inflammatory process in the liver. In 37 patients PP was measured after a course of complex therapy; despite positive clinical changes, the degree of PP only tended to lower. Prolonged (3 years) follow-up of 21 patients with CVH revealed that most of them had increased PP and dilatation of portal and splenic veins, which is a sign of a gradual progression of the disease.