[Effects of Tham, isoprenaline and propranolol on the blood flow and vascular resistance of the liver after clamping of the afferent and efferent vessels. Relation to splanchnic shock].

To determine the roles of portal circulation and the hepatic arteries during states of shock, the authors studied on 38 dogs, the effects of 30 minutes clamping of the sub-diaphragmatic part of the inferior vena cava, the portal vein and the hepatic artery, either together or successively. They measured the pressure in these various vessels, the transhepatic flow, using Xenon133, and calculated the intra-hepatic resistance. The animals were then treated with Tham, isoprenaline and propanolol. Tolerance to clamping was improved significantly when the animals were treated with the association of these drugs. The portal pressure and the systemic arterial pressure, rapidly returned to normal. This was also the case with hepatic, venous or arterial blood flow. There was a remarkable stability between the sinusoidal and biliary resistances, compared with disturbances in control groups. The already well known beneficial effect of Tham was increased by the apparently paradoxical association of isoprenaline and propranolol. In fact, with this dosage, they counter-balanced their reciprocal disadvantages. Finally, a study of blood flow and vascular resistance in the liver, suggests the existence of two components in splanchnic shock, hepatic and visceral.