Hemodynamic Alteration in the Liver in Acute Hepatitis: A Quantitative Evaluation Using Computed Tomographic Perfusion

We aimed to elucidate the hemodynamic alterations in the liver of patients with acute hepatitis (AH) using computed tomography perfusion imaging. For 14 patients with AH and nine patients with no disease (ND group), we compared the mean arterial blood flow (AF), portal blood flow (PF) and perfusion index (%) [PI=AF/(AF+PF) ×100] of the right and left liver lobes and investigated their relationship with clinical factors. The mean PI of the right lobe in the AH group (30.5±10.0%) was significantly higher than that in the ND group (20.8±9.7%) (p=0.031). For all patients of the AH and ND groups, the PI of the right lobe was increased as the prothrombin time decreased (R=-0.56, p=0.006) and as the prothrombin time-international normalized ratio increased (R=0.48, p=0.02). The PI of the right liver lobe may increase in AH and may be a predictive parameter for the severity of hepatic failure.