Effect of famotidine on hepatic hemodynamics and peptic ulcer.

The acute effects of histamine H2 receptor antagonist, famotidine, on hepatic hemodynamics were studied in six normal volunteers and eight patients with chronic liver disease, and its chronic effects on peptic ulcer, portal hemodynamics, and hepatic function were studied in 20 patients with chronic liver disease and peptic ulcer (16 with gastric ulcer, four with duodenal ulcer). Infusion of 20 mg famotidine did not reduce hepatic blood flow and portal blood flow in normal subjects, nor did it reduce cardiac output, the gradient between wedged hepatic vein pressure and free hepatic vein pressure, hepatic blood flow, and portal blood flow in patients with chronic liver disease. An oral dose of 20 mg famotidine twice daily for 2 months healed peptic ulcer in 19 of 20 patients (95%) with chronic liver disease and peptic ulcer, without any change in portal blood flow and hepatic function. Thus famotidine does not appear to alter hepatic hemodynamics and hepatic function in normal subjects and patients with chronic liver disease.