Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Portal Venous Flow and Follow-up in Patients with Liver Disease and Healthy Subjects: Assessment with Duplex Doppler

1994; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 29; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.3109/00365529409090458

1502-7708

Peter J. de Vries, J. B. L. Hoekstra, P. de Hooge, Jan van Hattum,

Organ Transplantation Techniques and Outcomes

De Vries PJ, Hoekstra JBL, de Hooge P, van Hattum J. Portal venous flow and follow-up in patients with liver disease and healthy subjects. Assessments with duplex Doppler. Scand J Gastroenterol 1994;29:172-177.The evolution of portal venous flow in non-end-stage chronic liver disease with portal hypertension was assessed in 59 patients and compared with that in 55 control subjects and by means of duplex Doppler measurements by a single observer. All patients were prospectively followed up, and a repeated measurement was performed in a subgroup of 23 patients. The mean (±SD) portal venous diameter and velocity of patients versus controls were 11.2 (±2.0) mm versus 10.1 (±1.4) mm (p < 0.0005) and 11.0 (±4.2) cm/sec versus 13.9 (±4.1) cm/sec (p < 0.0005). The portal venous flow did not differ: 671 (±291) ml/rnin versus 652 (±203) ml/min. Diagnosis, Child class, and grade of varices did not influence the portal flow. Patients were followed up during a median (±SD) time of 47 (±17) months. Nineteen (32%) patients died, and 14 (23%) had a variceal hemorrhage. Survival and hemorrhage were not correlated with the portal venous flow. Subsequent measurements in 23 patients showed a significant decrease in portal venous flow in 5 patients who died during follow-up. This was not found in the patients who survived. It is concluded that portal venous flow in chronic liver disease with portal hypertension is stable for a long time in the evolution of chronic liver disease. The existence of a 'portostat' is postulated. Only in the terminal stage of liver disease can a reduction of the portal venous flow be detected.