Obstruction of the hepatic venous outflow tract results in increased hepatic sinusoidal pressure and portal hypertension. In the early stages, portal venous perfusion of the liver is decreased, which may result in portal venous thrombosis. 2 The ensuing venous stasis and congestion lead to hypoxic damage to adjacent hepatic parenchymal cells. Furthermore, the ischemic injury to the sinusoidal l...

The relationship between the changes in portal venous and hepatic arterial blood flows, in the liver is a much disputed question, it has tremendous significance in the practice of transplantation, and an explanation has been available since 1981, when Lautt published the so-called "adenosine washout theory". According to our earlier observations the decrease of portal pressure or flow consisten...

Ascites is a frequent sequela of severe hepatic disease. Recently, surgical intervention in the form of a peritoneovenous (P-V) LeVeen shunt has been introduced in the treatment of ascites. Anesthetic management of the patient with ascites undergoing placement of a LeVeen Shunt requires an understanding of: (1) the physiology of hepatic circulation; (2) the systemic consequences of ascites; (3)...

1 The hepatic portal vein of the anesthetized dog was cannulated and perfused with blood derived from the cannulated superior mesenteric vein. 2 The portal vein was perfused at constant flow, the hepatic portal venous pressure being monitored continuously together with the inferior vena caval pressure. From these measurements, the hepatic portal venous vascular resistance was calculated. 3 Nora...

Cirrhosis, the end stage of any chronic liver disease, can lead to portal hypertension (PHT), which can lead to fatal complications. Therefore, the prognosis and management of chronic liver diseases strongly depend on the severity of PHT. The best method to diagnose PHT is the direct measurement of portal pressure, and hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG) has been suggested as a reliable gol...

Portal hypertension, especially when it is caused by extrahepatic portal vein thrombosis, is commonly followed by the development of an abnormal periportal and pericholedochal variceal network, which form a portal cavernoma. This may exert extrinsic pressure on the adjacent biliary ducts and gallblader, causing morphologic abnormalities, termed portal biliopathy, which is usually leading to asy...

BACKGROUND Corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) is distributed in the central nervous system and acts as a neurotransmitter to regulate gastric functions through vagal-muscarinic pathways. We have recently demonstrated that central CRF aggravates experimental acute liver injury in rats. In the present study, the central effect of CRF on hepatic circulation was investigated. METHODS Hepatic su...

We determined the roles of liver and splanchnic vascular bed in anaphylactic hypotension in anesthetized rats and the effects of anaphylaxis on hepatic vascular resistances and liver weight in isolated perfused rat livers. In anesthetized rats sensitized with ovalbumin (1 mg), an intravenous injection of 0.6 mg ovalbumin caused not only a decrease in systemic arterial pressure from 120 +/- 9 to...