A 54-year-old man with chronic hepatitis C was admitted to our hospital because of a disturbance of consciousness and hyperammonemia. Abdominal angiography revealed a portosystemic shunt between the superior mesenteric vein and inferior vena cava. Endoscopic examination showed no varix. As interventional treatment was unsuccessful, surgical ligation of the shunt was performed. After surgery, po...

BACKGROUND & AIMS The potential use of losartan, an angiotensin II type 1 receptor blocker, in the treatment of portal hypertension is still under debate. This randomized controlled trial compared the effects of losartan vs. propranolol on portal and systemic hemodynamics in patients with cirrhosis. METHODS Twenty-seven compensated patients were randomized to receive losartan 25 mg/day (n = 1...

BACKGROUND/AIM Endothelin-1 plays an important role in the regulation of portal hypertension; endothelin antagonists have been extensively studied in portal hypertensive animals. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of highly selective endothelin antagonists in partial portal vein ligated (PPVL) rats. METHODS Four groups of 7 male Sprague-Dawley rats were administered orally ABT-627 (ET(A)-selec...

Two dissimilar hemodynamic hypotheses, the "backward flow" theory and the "forward flow" theory, have been advanced to define splanchnic hemodynamics in portal hypertension. An animal model with portal hypertension and high-grade portal-systemic shunting, the portal vein-stenotic rat, was studied to determine whether a hemodynamic picture compatible with either theory would develop. Splanchnic ...

1. Portal hypertension and hyperdynamic circulation have been postulated to play a role in the pathogenesis of portal hypertensive gastropathy. Administration of octreotide to portal hypertensive rats has been shown to reduce portal pressure and ameliorate hyperdynamic circulation. 2. This study investigated the effects of chronic administration of octreotide on systemic and portal haemodynamic...

Objective(s): An increase in nitric oxide (NO) production has been reported in cirrhotic cardiomyopathy and, portal hypertension. Since minocycline has been shown to inhibit NO overproduction, we aimed to examine its role in a rat model of CCl4-induced cirrhotic cardiovascular complications. Materials and Methods: Portal pressure and inotropic responsiveness of isolated papillary muscles to is...

The renewed interest which has taken place during the past half decade in the relief of portal hypertension by surgical means has called for precise methods of diagnosis, both of the cause and of the degree of portal hypertension. Knowledge of the normal variations in the portal blood pressure in man is still inadequate, and it is probable that an elevation considerably above the normal can occ...

MITZNER, WAYNE. Hepatic outJrow resistance, sinusoid pressure, and the vascular waterfall. Am. J. Physiol. 227(3): 513-519. 1974.The pressure-flow characteristics of the hepatic common outflow resistance were determined in five anesthetized dogs. These curves were shown to be nearly linear in the range of normal flows, but exhibited a moderate convexity toward the pressure axis at low flows. Th...

Background. Partial diversion of the portal system aims to redeuce portal pressure sufficiently to prevent variceal hemorrhage but still maintain adwquate hepatic portal flow. Methods. Partial portacaval shunts were performed in 25 patients with cirrhosis with portal hypertension and esophageal varices, either as a primary procedure (n 16) or for failure of endoscopic sclerotherapy (n= 9), with...