Total and functional hepatic blood flow decrease in parallel with ageing

Objectives: to study changes in hepatic blood flow with age. Design: functional hepatic flow (FHF) and total hepatic flow (THF) were det ermined by non-invasive methods in 40 normal subjects in four age groups (< 45, 45-60, 61-75 and >75 years). All subjects had normal routine liver func tion tests and no history of liver disease. Results: THF was measured by pulsed echo-Doppler, as the sum of portal and hepatic artery blood flow; FHF was measured by the hepatic clearance of D-s orbitol. THF significantly decreased with age, particularly in subjects ove r 75 (from 1445 +/- 220 ml/min to 1020 +/- 148; P < 0.001), and a similar r eduction was observed in FHF (from 1514 +/- 250 ml/min to 1015 +/- 163; P < 0.001). THF and FHF were strictly correlated in the whole population (r = 0.871; P < 0.001) and both correlated with age (r = -0.510 and r = -0.596, P < 0.005). Conclusion: with ageing there is a reduction of hepatic blood flow without any additional intrahepatic shunting.