Hemodynamics in the portal vein evaluated by pulse wave Doppler ultrasonography in patients with chronic hepatitis C treated with interferon

AIM: To employ pulse wave Doppler ultrasonography to evaluate the changes in portal blood flow velocity in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) receiving interferon (IFN) treatment. METHODS: The subjects in this study were 14 patients (13 men and l woman) with CHC who received IFN treatment. Portal blood flow velocity was measured in the vessels at the porta hepatis at four time points: before IFN administration (pre-IFN), 2 wk after the start of administration (wk 2), 24 wk after the start of administration (wk 24, i.e., the end of IFN administration), and 24 wk after the end of administration (wk 48). RESULTS: The patients with CHC in whom IFN treatment resulted in complete elimination or effective elimination of viruses showed a significant increase in portal blood flow velocity at the end of IFN treatment compared with that before IFN treatment. In contrast, when IFN was ineffective, no significant increase in portal blood flow velocity was observed at wk 24 or 48 compared with the pre-IFN value. In addition, the patients with CHC in whom IFN was ineffective showed significantly lower portal blood flow velocity values than control subjects at all measurement time points. CONCLUSION: Pulse wave Doppler ultrasonography is a noninvasive and easily performed method for evaluating the effects of IFN treatment in patients with CHC. This technique is useful for measuring portal blood flow velocity before and 24 wk after IFN administration in order to evaluate the changes over time, thus assessing the effectiveness of IFN treatment.