Portal blood flow: measurement with MR imaging

• Published in: Radiology Vol. 173; no. 3; p. 639
• Main Authors: Tamada, T, Moriyasu, F, Ono, S, Shimizu, K, Kajimura, K, Soh, Y, Kawasaki, T, Kimura, T, Yamashita, Y, Someda, H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.12.1989
• Subjects: Blood Flow Velocity - drug effects; Blood Volume; Chronic Disease; Ethanol - pharmacology; Glucose Tolerance Test; Hepatitis - physiopathology; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Models, Structural; Portal System - physiology; Portal System - physiopathology; Portal Vein - physiology; Ultrasonography
• ISSN: 0033-8419
• DOI: 10.1148/radiology.173.3.2682771

Portal blood flow was measured by means of direct bolus imaging (DBI), a method of measuring flow velocity with magnetic resonance imaging. DBI allows immediate visualization of fluid movement, thereby enabling calculation of a flow velocity from fluid displacement. In a study of 14 healthy male volunteers, portal blood flow was measured with electrocardiographic gating during the 18 seconds subjects could suspend respiration. These measurements showed a close correlation (r = .968) with those obtained by means of Doppler ultrasound (US). Increases in portal blood flow after oral administration of ethanol and glucose were measured with DBI. Glucose caused a statistically greater increase in portal blood flow volume in healthy control subjects than in patients with chronic hepatitis. Blood sugar, on the other hand, showed a significantly greater increase in these patients, possibly reflecting the greater vascular resistance of the liver. DBI is a useful noninvasive method of measuring portal blood flow without the limitations imposed on Doppler US by obesity and intestinal gas.