OBJECTIVESTo find the relationship between hepatic dysfunction and renal blood flow (RBF).

METHODS49 patients with hepatic cirrhosis were studied via Color-Coded Duplex Ultrasonography detecting the pulsatile index (PI), resistive index (RI), peak systolic velocity (PS), peak diastolic velocity (PD) and peak systolic velocity/peak diastolic velocity (PS/PD) in the interlobar and arcuate arteries. The plasma endothelin (ET) levels were also evaluated.

RESULTSAccording to a modified Child's classification which assesses the severity of liver cirrhosis, we compared different groups and found that the worse the function of liver appeared coincidently with the higher PI and RI, especially RI (0.60+/-0.09, 0.66+/-0.06, 0.72+/-0.07, respectively, P < 0.01); The results also indicated that PI, RI increased obviously followed by the rise of ascites (PI: 1.14+/-0.20, 1.31+/-0.29, 1.42+/-0.36, respectively; RI: 0.61+/-0.09, 0.68+/-0.07, 0.77+/-0.05, respectively). The evaluation of plasma ET level demonstrated that its increment is intimately correlated with PI and RI.

CONCLUSIONIn patients with cirrhosis, RBF is directly correlated with the hepatic function. The correlation between ascites and RBF is also discovered. In patients who have liver cirrhosis, the plasma ET level obviously increased, indicating that ET probably is one of the active factors of renal vascular contraction.