[Chronic hepatic encephalopathy in cirrhotic patients and spontaneous portacaval anastomosis. Portal angiographic and manometric study].

Portal angiographic and manometric studies were prospectively carried out in 9 cirrhotic patients with spontaneous chronic portal-systemic encephalopathy. Hepatic encephalopathy presented as coma in 8 patients, and was the first manifestation of chronic liver disease in 6 cases. Hemodynamic studies showed a) a large single spontaneous portacaval anastomosis (gastrorenal, splenorenal, gradient (mean +/- SD = 16.

[Treatment of acute alcoholic hepatitis with prednisolone. 45 patients].

Whether or not prednisolone (or prednisone) should be used to treat alcoholic hepatitis remains controversial. This new controlled study performed on 45 patients with steatosis, fibrosis or cirrhosis of the liver suggests that prednisolone is not effective: after a 3-month follow-up clinical course, biochemical alterations, anatomical lesions and portal hypertension were the same in patients treated with prednisolone and in those who did not receive that drug.

[Value of the transjugular venous approach to the liver in the diagnosis of cirrhosis. 333 cases].

The transjugular technique is very useful for the diagnosis of cirrhosis since it makes it possible, in one single exploratory procedure, to perform a needle aspiration biopsy (despite coagulation disorders and ascites) and to measure the porto-caval pressure gradient. In our series cirrhosis was diagnosed by liver biopsy alone in 249 out of 333 patients (77%), and the porto-caval gradient was found to be elevated in 313 patients (97%).

Percutaneous measurement of portal blood flow in the piglet by continuous thermodilution.

The continuous thermodilution method was applied to the percutaneous measurement of portal blood flow in the piglet by inserting a thermodilution probe into the portal vein via the transhepatic transvenous route. The method was compared to electromagnetic flowmetry in three piglets; the two methods yielded statistically identical results. The coefficient of variation of the continuous thermodilution measurements was 4%.

[Urinary prostaglandins in the hepatorenal syndrome of cirrhotic patients: role of thromboxane A2 and an imbalance of precursor polyunsaturated fatty acids].

The hepatorenal syndrome is considered to be a functional renal failure due to active renal vasoconstriction. The purpose of this work was to study the urinary elimination of prostaglandins and the plasmatic polyunsaturated fatty acid precursors of prostaglandins. The urinary elimination of PGE2 was not significantly different in the groups of patients studied: controls, group I (193 +/- 42 ng/24 h), cirrhotic patients without ascites, group II (274 +/- 43 ng/24 h), cirrhotic patients with ascites, group III (269 +/- 41 ng/24 h).