Portal venous blood flow velocity in chronic hepatic disease

measurement using magnetic resonance imaging

Abstract

The direct bolus imaging (DBI) technique using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to compare portal blood flow velocity and flow volume in 11 healthy adults and 40 patients with chronic hepatic diseases. Portal blood flow measured by the DBI method decreased from healthy adults to chronic hepatitis patients to hepatic cirrhosis patients, in that order. Moreover, blood flow velocity tended to decrease with proximity to the primary bifurcation of the portal vein, and also tended to diminish with increasing severity of hepatic fibrosis. These results indicated that measurement of portal blood flow velocity using MRI constitutes a useful technique for the assessment of morbidity in chronic hepatic disease.