Hepatic artery duplex Doppler ultrasound in severe alcoholic hepatitis and correlation with Maddrey's discriminant function

Alcoholic hepatitis is associated with altered hepatic artery hemodynamics. Maddrey's discriminant function (MDF) can identify patients with poor prognosis (DF >32). We studied hepatic artery hemodynamic parameters of hepatic artery diameter (HAD), resistive index (RI) and pulsatility index (PI) in severe acute alcoholic hepatitis (SAAH) and for the presence of correlation of parameters with severity factor MDF. A total of 20 consecutive SAAH patients defined as MDF >32 and a group of 20 alcoholic cirrhosis patients without alcoholic hepatitis formed the two study groups. Hepatic artery Doppler parameters HAD, RI, PI were determined after admission in the Gastroenterology Department, Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, India. MDF score of SAAH was calculated at the time of admission to the hospital. The mean HAD showed statistically significant increase in SAAH compared with cirrhosis (3.96±0.51 vs. 2.86±0.41, P