[Evaluation of hepatic and portal blood flow component with radionuclide angiography].

Hepatic radionuclide angiography was performed with Gamma camera, after bolus injection of 740 MBq 99m-Tc-pertechnetate. Hepatic and portal phases (slopes) of the liver time-activity curve were separated at the moment of the maximal left kidney activity, and hepatic perfusion index (HPI) was determined. Decreased (p < 0.01) HPI values were observed in patients with liver cirrhosis with or without oesophageal varices (X + SD) (0.32 +/- 0.19 vs. 0.49 +/- 0.13 respectively) in comparison to the controls (0.68 +/- 0.06). HPI values in these two groups of patients also differ between themselves (p < 0.01). HPI values in patients with haemangiomas (0.64 +/- 0.08) were within normal range, pointing out the missing of haemodynamic alterations in the blood inflow through the portal-hepatic system. On the contrary, in patients with metastases of abdominal carcinomas, HPI was lower (0.40 +/- 0.28, p < 0.05) than in controls and patients with haemangiomas. Hepatic radionuclide angiography is a usefull method in the estimation of relative liver perfusion in patients with portal hypertension and liver tumours.