Sv. Shikare et al., HEPATIC PERFUSION INDEX IN PORTAL-HYPERTENSION OF CIRRHOTIC AND NONCIRRHOTIC ETIOLOGIES, Nuclear medicine communications, 17(6), 1996, pp. 520-522
The hepatic perfusion index (HPI), the ratio of hepatic arterial to to
tal Liver blood flow, was determined by radionuclide angiography in 28
subjects with normal livers and 62 patients with portal hypertension
of various aetiologies. The latter group comprised 50 patients with ci
rrhosis (14 Child class A, 20 Child class B, 16 Child class C) and 12
patients with non-cirrhotic portal hypertension (7 non-cirrhotic porta
l fibrosis, 5 extrahepatic portal venous obstruction). The mean (+/- S
.D.) HPI was significantly higher among the patients with cirrhosis (C
hild class A, 53.9 +/- 18.1; Child class B, 65.6 +/- 29.4; Child class
C, 78.6 +/- 33.5) and non-cirrhotic portal hypertension (54.9 +/- 17.
7) compared with the subjects with normal livers (35.6 +/- 10.5). The
patients with non-cirrhotic portal hypertension had a mean value simil
ar to that of the cirrhotic patients in Child class A. A higher HPI wa
s associated with worsening liver status. We conclude, therefore, that
the HPI will be high in portal hypertension irrespective of aetiology
and a rise in the HPI may indicate a deterioration in the condition o
f the liver.