Progress in the assessment of liver blood flow in health and disease.
Several of the reasons why the liver is a vital organ are illustrated in this review. The fundamental importance of its dual arterial and portal venous supply is shown in a wide range of physiological and pathological conditions, ranging from digestion to regeneration, cirrhosis, mesenteric ischaemia and malignancy. In most, if not all, of these functions the blood supply exerts an important, if not prime, role. This article reviews some of the progress made in evaluating these vital hepatic circulatory phenomena.
Karran
S
S
University Surgical Unit, Southampton General Hospital, UK.
D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000098:blood supply*; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008115:Liver Regeneration / Q000502:physiology