The interaction between hepatic arterial and portal venous blood flows; simultaneous measurement by transit time ultrasonic volume flowmetry.

Intra-operative measurement of the afferent circulation of the liver, namely hepatic artery and portal venous flow was carried out in 14 anesthetized patients with carcinoma of the splanchnic area, mainly in the head of the pancreas, by means of transit time ultrasonic volume flowmetry. The hepatic artery flow, portal venous flow and total hepatic flow were 0.377 +/- 0.10; 0.614 +/- 0.21; 0.992 +/- 0.2761/min, respectively. The ratio of hepatic arterial flow to portal venous flow was 0.66 +/- 0.259. There was a sharp, significant increase in hepatic arterial flow (29.8 +/- 6.1%, p < 0.01) after the temporary occlusion of portal vein, while the temporary occlusion of the hepatic artery did not have any significant effect on portal venous circulation. The interaction between hepatic arterial flow and portal venous flow is much in dispute, but, as the data presented here show, there is no doubt that the decrease in portal venous flow immediately gives rise to a significant increase in hepatic artery circulation.