Functional study with 131I-rose bengal in chronic active hepatitis and nonactive cirrhosis using a three-compartment model.

The authors, using 131I-Rose Bengal, determined the fractional transfer constants of a three-compartmental model in 30 patients divided into two groups (chronic active hepatitis and nonactive cirrhosis) on a histological basis. Other functional indexes were also taken into consideration. In nonactive cirrhosis, the results show a greater impairment of Rose Bengal transfer from plasma to liver. In chronic active hepatitis K32 (fractional transfer coefficient from the second to the third compartment) appears significantly lower than in nonactive cirrhosis. No significant differences have been found for K12 and K03. The best differentiation between the two groups (consistent with histological data in 29 of 30 cases) was obtained by grouping K21, retention index (RI) and SGOT in the discrimination function: L=4.88 K21-0.016RI+0.0034SGOT. The ratio K12/K21 seems meaningful for diagnostic purposes and in the evaluation of the hepatocellular damage in single cases.