Studies on the relationship between hepatic and splenic density change in dynamic CT in the presence of a large splenorenal shunt in patients with liver cirrhosis.

Using dynamic computerized tomography (CT), we studied liver and spleen hemodynamics in one group of patients with a large splenorenal shunt and another group without a large shunt. Specifically, we measured the time-to-peak hepatic and splenic enhancement and the loss of enhancement, i.e., decay time. The time-to-peak liver enhancement (61 +/- 21 s vs. 81 +/- 14 s, p < 0.05) and the splenic decay time (24 +/- 16 s vs. 48 +/- 28 s, p < 0.05) were significantly shorter in patients with a large splenorenal shunt compared to those without. The groups had similar hepatic decay times and times to peak splenic enhancement. We found dynamic CT useful in assessing the effect of a large splenorenal shunt on portal and splenic hemodynamics.