Duplex/colour Doppler sonography: measurement of changes in hepatic arterial haemodynamics following intra-arterial angiotensin II infusion.

Angiotensin II (AT-II) has been used to target regionally-administered cytotoxic microspheres in patients with intrahepatic tumours. The optimisation of vasoconstrictor targeting requires a knowledge of the blood flow changes induced by agents such as AT-II. We therefore assessed duplex/colour Doppler sonography (DCDS) as a means of evaluating the effects of AT-II infusion on hepatic arterial blood flow (HABF) and arterial resistance in patients with intrahepatic tumours. HABF was measured continuously in nine patients using DCDS before, during and after an infusion of AT-II (15 micrograms in 3 ml of saline over 90 s) via a hepatic artery catheter. In seven patients with less than 30% hepatic replacement by tumour, the baseline level of HABF was 331 +/- 85 ml min-1 (mean +/- s.d.), and this was reduced by 75-80% within 30 s of the start of AT-II infusion. HABF recovered rapidly from the end of the infusion, and increased by up to 20% above the baseline for approximately 2 min. In two patients with greater than 50% hepatic replacement, HABF showed no reduction but rose continuously from the start of AT-II infusion, increasing by a factor of 2-2.5 after 3-4 min. Arterial resistance showed reciprocal changes in all cases. We conclude that DCDS is effective in assessing the temporal changes in hepatic arterial blood flow caused by AT-II. In order to optimise tumour targeting, the injection of microspheres loaded with cytotoxic drugs should be completed before the end of the AT-II infusion. The targeting advantage of AT-II in patients with a high percentage hepatic replacement by tumour should be re-assessed.