A measurement of regional portal blood flow with Xe-133 and balloon catheter in man.

This investigation was undertaken to measure regional portal blood flow of the liver. The measurement was performed by injecting 133Xe into the proper hepatic artery through a balloon catheter and then occluding the proper hepatic artery with an inflated balloon. Data were collected using a gamma camera, and washout curves were generated. They were analyzed by the initial slope method and Kety Schmidt equation. The average regional portal blood flows were: 59.31 +/- 13.04 ml/100 g per min, 58.71 +/- 14.14 ml/100 g per min and 37.12 +/- 10.11 ml/100 g per min in hospital controls (11), patients with chronic hepatitis (10) and those with liver cirrhosis (56), respectively. In the patients with cirrhosis, the regional portal blood flow was significantly reduced (P less than 0.01). The reproducibility of this method was satisfactory. The measurement of regional portal blood flow will be useful to evaluate underlying liver injuries and determine indications of a transcatheter arterial embolization of the liver.