Kawasaki, S., Henderson, J.M., Hertzler, G. and Galloway, J.R. (1991) The role of continued drinking in loss of portal perfusion after distal splenorenal shunt. Gastroenterology; 100, 799-804 HPB INTERNATIONAL 71 Fifty percent of patients with alcoholic cirrhosis who undergo distal splenorenal shunting for variceal bleeding lose portal perfusion within 1 year. Although it was previously conside...

BACKGROUND Liver cirrhosis is often accompanied by portal-systemic collateral formation with hemorrhage and encephalopathy. Prostacyclin participates in hyperdynamic circulation and vascular hyporeactiveness to vasoconstrictors in cirrhosis. It has been shown that arginine vasopressin (AVP) induces direct collateral vasoconstriction in portal hypertensive rats, which is potentiated by indometha...

Purpose Posthepatectomy liver failure is a serious complication and considered to be caused by increased portal pressure and flow. Splanchnic vasoactive agents and propranolol are known to decrease portal pressure. The aim of this study was to identify optimal candidates with potential for clinical use among somatostatin, terlipressin, and propranolol using rats with 90% hepatectomy. Methods ...

BACKGROUND Height of portal pressure correlates with severity of alcoholic cirrhosis. Portal pressure indices are not however used routinely as predictors of survival. AIMS To examine the clinical value of a single portal pressure measurement in predicting outcome in cirrhotic patients who have bled. METHODS A series of 105 cirrhotic patients who consecutively underwent hepatic venous press...

Non-selective beta-blockers are the mainstay of medical therapy for portal hypertension in liver cirrhosis. Inhibitors of phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE-5-inhibitors) reduce portal pressure in the acute setting by > 10% which may suggest a long-term beneficial effect. Currently, there is no available data on long-term treatment of portal hypertension with PDE-5-inhibitors. This case of a patient with...

1. It has been reported that ortreotide partially corrects the hyperdynamic state in patients and animals with portal hypertension. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether chronic administration of octreotide can increase vascular responsiveness in rats with portal hypertension. 2. Portal hypertension was induced by partial portal vein ligation. Octreotide was given for 9 days s...

BACKGROUND Variceal pressure is a strong predictor for a first variceal bleed in patients with cirrhosis. AIMS To evaluate whether variceal pressure is also a determinant of the risk of a first variceal bleed in patients with non-cirrhotic portal hypertension. METHODS Variceal pressure was measured non-invasively in 25 patients with non-cirrhotic portal hypertension and large varices while ...

Twenty five patients with acute liver failure were measured for hepatic venous pressure gradient as an index of portal pressure during the course of a transjugular liver biopsy. Hepatic venous pressure gradient ranged from 4 to 24.5 mm Hg with a mean of 12.8 (5.3) mm Hg (normal values less than 5 mm Hg). All patients but one had increased portal pressure gradient. Portal hypertension correlated...

POSTERIOR PITUITARY EXTRACT is known to lower the portal venous pressure in animalsl-3 and in man a similar effect has been demonstrated during the control of bleeding from esophageal varices with intravenous pitressin.44 It has been suggested that pitressin lowers portal pressure by increasing splanchnic resistance.7 The present communication concerns the effects of intravenous pitressin on sp...

Portal hypertension is a major pathophysiology in patients with cirrhosis. Portal pressure is the gold standard to evaluate the severity of portal hypertension, and radiological intervention is the only procedure for pressure measurement. Ultrasound (US) is a simple and noninvasive imaging modality available worldwide. B-mode imaging allows broad applications for patients to detect and characte...