[Usefulness of the evaluation of blood supply and mass of the liver for predicting the rate of pharmacokinetics of lidocaine, propranolol and phenazone].

A group of patients with hepatocirrhosis were studied for the speed of liver elimination of lidocaine iv (n = 11), propranolol per os (n = 8) and phenazone per os (n = 19); they were also studied for blood supply in liver by means of sequential hepatoscintigraphy. Ultrasonography was used to evaluate the portal system and collaterals of the collateral circulation, endoscopy was used to evaluate the size of oesophageal varices, lateral projection of scintigraphic picture made it possible to calculate the liver mass. The half-life of propranolol and lidocaine in the initial phase of elimination correlated with the degree of portal-arterial disorders in liver blood supply. Propranolol bioavailability correlated with the diameter of the portal vein and was dependent on the size of oesophageal varices and the presence of cavernous transformation of the portal vein. No correlation was found between hepatic clearance of phenazone and vascular pathology of cirrhotic liver, but positive correlation was found between clearance and liver mass. Morphological and functional examinations of the vascular system of the cirrhotic liver were of greater predicative value for the evaluation of the pharmacokinetics of drugs than clinical progression of hepatocirrhosis in the Child-Turcott classification.