Abstract
Changes of hepatic volume and effective blood flow in liver diseases were studied. For a measure of effective hepatic blood flow, a hepatic fractional clearance of 198Au-colloids was determined, which was obtained from the disappearance rate multiplied by the fraction of injected dose taken up by the liver. Hepatic blood flow appears to have a wide normal range and also to be affected by aging. The effective hepatic blood flow was normal or not markedly decreased in patients with acute hepatitis who had progressed favorably. However, in patients with fulminant hepatitis it was decreased severely. In subjects with normal blood flow values, a significant correlation was found between the blood flow and liver volume, suggesting that effective hepatic blood flow is proportional to parenchymal volume in an unanesthetized, resting state. These observations led to evaluating the progress of diffuse liver diseases. Biopsied cases showed good accordance of changes in volume and blood flow with changes indicated by morphological criteria.
