Portal hypertension in kala-azar

The present study records haemodynamic studies in three patients with kala-azar, a parasitic disease. All the three patients had high intrasplenic pressure, mild to moderate elevation of wedged hepatic vein pressure, and increased or normal estimated hepatic blood flow. Liver histology showed marked proliferation and swelling of Kupffer cells in the sinusoids. One patient was studied serially for nine months following treatment which showed persistent elevation of intrasplenic pressure though wedge pressure and liver blood flow touched normal levels. Liver biopsy was essentially normal at this stage. These findings may have some relevance to the role of different parasitic infections in the pathogenesis of a heterogeneous group of non-cirrhotic portal fibroses.