Doppler ultrasound in evaluating the hemodynamics of the portal vein in patients with chronic liver diseases
Journal
Journal of Medical Ultrasound
Journal Volume
3
Journal Issue
3
Pages
129-133
Date Issued
1995
Author(s)
Abstract
Background: The detection of liver cirrhosis in patients with chronic hepatitis is important in an area hyperendemic for hepatotropic viruses. It is even more important to find out the portal hypertensive status in cirrhotic patients. Materials and Methods: Twenty-four normal subjects, 30 patients with tissue-proven chronic hepatitis and 48 cirrhotic patients were recruited for the study. The cirrhotic patients included 31 patients with and 17 patients without esophageal varices, verified endoscopically. A Toshiba SSA-270A color Doppler machine (Toshiba Co., Tokyo, Japan) equipped with a sector probe of 3.75 MHz was used. Measurements of portal vein velocity and flow volume were performed at the anterior branch of the right portal vein, and the angle of approach was ?60°. For each subject, measurement was performed at least five times, with a coefficient of variance <15%. Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparisons between various groups. Results: The mean portal vein velocity (cm/sec) was 18.3, 17.0 and 13.1 in normal subjects, patients with chronic hepatitis and cirrhotic patients, respectively. Statistically significant differences were noted between normal subjects and cirrhotic patients and between cirrhotic patients and those with chronic hepatitis. No significant difference was noted between cirrhotic patients with and without esophageal varices. When 13 cm/sec was used as a cut-off value for the detection of liver cirrhosis, the specificity was 100%, although the sensitivity was only 44%. Conclusion: The flow velocity of the portal vein was significantly lower in patients with cirrhosis when compared with that of normal subjects and patients with chronic hepatitis. Doppler ultrasound may play a role in the detection of liver cirrhosis when the flow velocity of the portal vein is <13 cm/sec, particularly for patients whose cirrhosis is not conclusively judged with other non-invasive methods. The value of Doppler ultrasound in the long-term follow-up of patients with chronic hepatitis needs further study.
Subjects
Doppler ultrasound; hemodynamic; liver cirrhosis; portal hypertension; portal vein
SDGs
Other Subjects
adult; aged; article; chronic hepatitis; controlled study; Doppler flowmetry; female; human; liver cirrhosis; major clinical study; male; portal hypertension; portal vein blood flow
Publisher
Elsevier (Singapore) Pte Ltd
Type
journal article