35: Liver disease/hepatic blood flow changes

Liver disease/hepatic blood flow changes ($65,000)

Launceston General Hospital Staff Specialist and Surgeon Dr. Peter Hewitt was given a grant over three years for this study which will measure hepatic blood flow changes with particular reference to the Doppler Perfusion Index (DPI).

A normal healthy liver receives about 25% of its blood supply via the hepatic artery. The study will demonstrate the effect of various conditions on liver blood flow using ultrasound – a non invasive imaging modality. Blood flow is measured by imaging the artery and vein supplying the liver at various points. Changes in liver blood flow may be a more sensitive way of detecting liver problems than conventional x-ray studies. This may be particularly useful in diagnosing liver malignancy at an earlier stage, as preliminary studies have shown that the presence of liver cancer can be predicted by measuring the ratio of the arterial to total liver blood flow (Doppler Perfusion Index or DPI).

The study will involve 3 groups of people:

• healthy volunteers;
• all patients with abdominal symptoms undergoing ultrasound examination;
• a group of patients who have known cancer requiring surgery, both prior to
their operation and during the surgery itself.

The implications of this work are enormous. If ultrasonic measurement of liver blood flow was found to be reliable, then it may replace other more expensive imaging modalities as the ‘gold standard’ for diagnosing and planning treatment of liver diseases.