BACKGROUND: In patients with diffuse liver disease, the portal flow dynamics change markedly in accordance with disease progression and would provide a useful index of progression of stage. METHODS: Portal blood flow (PBF) was measured by phase contrast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in 21 patients with diffuse liver disease and 20 healthy volunteers. The MRI method was validated by a flow phantom study. The mean PBF could be measured in 6.8 min without breath-holding. RESULTS: Doppler ultrasound measurements of PBF volume were obtained reproducibly in all the healthy volunteers and were shown to correlate with the MRI values (Doppler: 12.5 +/- 3.2 cm3/s, MRI: 12.0 +/- 3.3 cm3/s; mean +/- SD). The PBF volume of patients with chronic hepatitis showed no significant difference from that of the healthy volunteers. In patients with liver cirrhosis, the PBF volume ranged from 5.01 to 32.3 cm3/s. A significant increase in PBF volume was caused in one patient by massive intrahepatic shunting and a significant decrease was caused in two patients by massive extrahepatic shunting. CONCLUSIONS: The measurement of PBF by phase contrast MRI is clinically useful in predicting intrahepatic or extrahepatic shunting in patients with liver cirrhosis, and may be of value in detecting the progression of stage in diffuse liver diseases.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Bile duct stenosis due to portal cavernomas: MR portography and MR cholangiopancreatography demonstration.

We report two cases of bile duct stenosis due to portal cavernomas. Smooth stenoses were seen arising from both walls of the common bile duct on magnetic resonance (MR) cholangiopancreatography. On contrast-enhanced MR portography, peribiliary tortuous vessels were evident, indicating portal cavernomas. MR imaging can evaluate the biliary tree and portal systems noninvasively and was useful for evaluating this condition.

Aged↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Sclerosing stromal tumor of the ovary: US, MR, and dynamic MR findings.

The US, MR, and dynamic MR findings in four patients with sclerosing stromal tumor of the ovary are reported. US showed a tumor with multilocular cystic components and irregularly thickened septa and tumor walls or a solid tumor including several small cystic components. On T2-weighted MR images, signal intensities of the cystic components were high and those of the solid components were inhomogeneous, ranging from intermediate-high to high. Dynamic MRI demonstrated marked early enhancement of the solid components.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Long-term culture of glutamine synthetase-transfected HepG2 cells in circulatory flow bioreactor for development of a bioartificial liver.

Glutamine synthetase (GS) is involved in an accessory pathway of ammonia removal in mammals. To develop a bioartificial liver with a human cell line, GS gene was transfected into HepG2 cells, which had no ammonia removal activity. After culturing in the presence of methionine sulfoximine (MSX), a GS inhibitor, we obtained a MSX-resistant HepG2 subline (GS-HepG2), which had amplified GS gene; ammonia removal activity was estimated to be 1/7 of that of rat primary culture hepatocytes. The cells were cultured in a circulatory flow bioreactor for 109 days, while they multiplied from 5 x 10(7) to 4 x 10(9) cells. Three days after inoculation, the ammonia level of the culture medium was lowered to a level maintained thereafter, suggesting that using recombinant cell lines for bioartificial livers enables long-term repeated treatment for hepatic failure patient. Judging from the rate of decrease in the amount of the added ammonia, the ammonia removal capability of 4 x 10(9) GS-HepG2 cells was almost equivalent to 5 x 10(8) porcine hepatocytes inoculated into the circulatory flow bioreactor. Apart from their ammonia removal activity, GS-HepG2 cells eliminated human tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha). Cytokine removal therefore promises to be another useful property of bioreactor cells.

Air Movements↗