title: Periportal oedema of the liver: correlation with clinical and paraclinical parameters in polytraumatic patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To clarify the occurrence of periportal edema in polytraumatic patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective analysis of computed tomography (CT) scans from 74 polytraumatic patients (12 females, 62 males; 14-88 years old, median 32 years) performed shortly after the trauma. Periportal oedema was found in 22 patients. The existence and extent of the periportal oedema were studied with regard to the injury type, sex, weight and age, heart frequency, arterial blood pressure, as well as the lactate, pH value, and base excess (BE) directly after the admission of the patient to the intensive care unit.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There is a relevant statistical correlation between the existence of periportal oedema and the abdominal trauma (P<.0001), independent of the type of abdominal injury. No relevant correlation between periportal oedema and existence of liver rupture, liver haematoma, other abdominal organ injury, abdominal vessel injury, fracture in the skeletal system, or intracerebral bleeding was found. Periportal oedema occurs more commonly in females than in males, more in light weight patients than in the others, and more frequent in young patients than in older ones. There is no correlation with arterial blood pressure, heart rate, pH value, lactate, and BE.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The existence of periportal oedema is one sign of abdominal trauma and is independent of liver injury. Although it correlates with the sex, weight, and age of the patient, there is no correlation with arterial blood pressure, heart rate, pH value, lactate, and BE.
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Strahlenheilkunde, Charité, Berlin, Germany. fuad.barakat@charite.de
authors.forename: Fuad
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Barakat
authors.forename: Udo
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Kaisers
authors.forename: Thilo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Busch
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Donaubauer
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hamm
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Röttgen
mesh_terms: D000007:Abdominal Injuries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004487:Edema / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009104:Multiple Trauma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*; D055815:Young Adult