Estimated hepatic oxygen consumption in patients with chronic liver diseases as assessed by organ reflectance spectrophotometry.

We investigated the estimated hepatic oxygen consumption by reflectance spectrophotometry during peritoneoscopy and the rate of in vitro oxygen consumption of liver slices obtained by liver biopsy using the oxygen electrode apparatus in patients with chronic liver diseases. The estimated hepatic oxygen consumption decreased concomitantly with the decrease in blood supply, expressed as the regional hepatic blood hemoglobin concentration, and it was significantly decreased in cirrhosis compared to chronic hepatitis. The estimated hepatic oxygen consumption also was significantly correlated with the serum albumin level, 15-min retention rate of indocyanine green, and prothrombin time. There was no correlation between the estimated hepatic oxygen consumption calculated from the reflectance spectra and the rate of in vitro oxygen consumption measured by the oxygen electrode apparatus. Most cirrhotic liver slices had a respiratory rate comparable to that in chronic hepatitis. Thus, it is concluded that the reduction of estimated hepatic oxygen consumption in cirrhosis of the liver is mainly due to the reduction of oxygen supply secondary to the decrease of hepatic blood flow.