Evaluation of quantitative portal venous, hepatic arterial, and total hepatic tissue blood flow using xenon CT in alcoholic liver cirrhosis: comparison with liver cirrhosis C.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Xenon computed tomography (Xe-CT) is a noninvasive method of quantifying and visualizing tissue blood flow (TBF). For the liver, Xe-CT allows separate measurement of hepatic arterial and portal venous TBF. The present study evaluated the usefulness of Xe-CT as a noninvasive diagnostic procedure for measuring hepatic TBF in alcoholic liver cirrhosis (AL-LC), compared with liver cirrhosis C (C-LC).

METHODS: Xenon computed tomography was performed on 12 patients with AL-LC and 17 patients with C-LC. The severity of LC was classified according to Child-Pugh classification. Correlations between hepatic TBF and Child-Pugh classification were examined. Correlations of hepatic TBF in Child-Pugh class A to C-LC and AL-LC were also examined.

RESULTS: The mean portal venous TBF (PVTBF) was significantly lower in AL-LC than in C-LC (p=0.0316). Similarly, the mean total hepatic TBF (THTBF) was significantly lower in AL-LC than in C-LC (p=0.0390). PVTBF displayed a significant negative correlation with Child-Pugh score (r=-0.396, p=0.0368).

CONCLUSIONS: Measurement of hepatic TBF using Xe-CT is useful as a noninvasive, objective method of assessing the state of the liver in chronic liver disease.