INTRAHEPATIC AND EXTRAHEPATIC ARTERIAL RESISTANCES IN CHRONIC HEPATITIS AND LIVER-CIRRHOSIS

Thirty patients with chronic hepatitis (CH), 84 with liver cirrhosis ( LC) and 42 controls, underwent noninvasive measurement of hepatic arte ry resistance index (RI) by means of Doppler ultrasound (US), at the p orta hepatis and in the intrahepatic branches, in order to investigate possible changes related to: (a) the liver disease; (b) the site of m easurement; and (c) ageing, The intrahepatic RI differed among LC, CH and controls (0.731, 0.690 and 0.633, p < 0.05), whereas the RI at the porta hepatis did not (0.754, 0.748 and 0.729, respectively), Intrahe patic RI correlated with age in LC (r=0,51,p < 0.0001) and in controls (r = 0.49, p < 0.001), In LC, it correlated also with the presence an d size of esophageal varices (r = 0.32, p < 0.05), In conclusion, an i ncrease of hepatic artery RI in chronic liver diseases can be demonstr ated when assessed in the intraparenchymal branches, The increase of h epatic artery RI with ageing should be considered in future studies, ( C) 1997 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology.