Measurement of the Intrahepatic Shunted Flow of Blood in Cirrhosis of the Liver

Abstract

THE most characteristic change in the hepatic circulation in cirrhosis of the liver is the appearance of pathological anastomoses in intrahepatic and extrahepatic blood vessels. The formation of intrahepatic and extrahepatic shunts markedly decreases the flow of blood through sinusoids, and increases the disturbance of liver cell function and liver cell damage, becoming one of the etiological factors of hepatic coma. Since there is apparently no published report of the quantitative measurement of the shunted flow of blood in liver cirrhosis, we have devised methods of measuring the intrahepatic and extrahepatic shunted flow in clinical cases. In this communication, the methods are presented for measuring the intrahepatic shunted flow of blood in cirrhosis of the liver. By these methods considerable amounts of intrahepatic shunted flow of blood is demonstrated in moderate and advanced liver cirrhosis.