Three Minimally Invasive Methods of Measuring of Portal Vein Pressure in Healthy Dogs

Abstract

ABSTRACT. We compared wedged hepatic venous pressure (WHVP), splenic pulp pressure (SPP) and trans-splenic portal vein pressure (TSPVP) in healthy dogs. We found that portal blood pressure could be measured in dogs using any of these techniques. The WHVP, SPP and TSPVP were 7.8 ± 1.0, 6.2 ± 0.8 and 6.8 ± 1.2 mmHg, respectively. Measuring SPP using ultrasound is most simple and minimally invasive, and it might be useful for evaluating portal hypertension in dogs with liver diseases. KEY WORDS: canine, catheterization, portal hypertension, portal pressure, ultrasound. doi: 10.1292/jvms.11-0549; J. Vet. Med. Sci. 74(10): 1299-1302, 2012 Portal hypertension (PH) is caused by excessive resistance to a given blood flow in the portal circulation, and it is classified based on anatomical localization, such as prehepatic, intrahepatic, and posthepatic. In dogs, intrahepatic PH can be caused by parenchymal liver diseases, such as severe chronic hepatitis/cirrhosis (CH) and primary hypoplasia of the portal vein (PHPV) [3,16]. Although understanding portal vein pressure (PVP) is important to identify whether these conditions involve PH, PH has been indirectly indicated in dogs based on clinical consequences including the development of ascites and acquired portosystemic collaterals (APSCs) [3,16]. Therefore, PVP in dogs has been mainly measured during the surgical attenuation of congenital portosystemic shunts (CPSS) under laparotomy [5,12,13,19].Catheterization is a minimally invasive method of measuring blood pressure. The currently favored method for determining PVP in humans involves catheterizing the hepatic vein and measuring wedged hepatic venous pressure (WHVP) and free hepatic venous pressure (FHVP) using a balloon catheter [1,2,6,10,11,14]. The value of WHVP is equivalent to that of indirect PVP in dogs [4,15]. The splenic pulp can be percutaneously catheterized to obtain PVP using laparoscopic guidance [18], and thus measuring splenic pulp pressure (SPP) in dogs might be quite simple. The technique used for percutaneous trans-splenic catheterization of the portal vein using ultrasound guidance in anesthetized dogs has been described [9], and although it might be useful for managing PH, it has not been used to measure pressure. Furthermore, PVP has not been measured using the three techniques described above under the same conditions. The present study compares the outcomes of three minimally invasive methods of measuring PVP in healthy dogs. MATERIALS AND METHODSAnimals: Animals used in this study were six healthy beagle dogs, 3 males and 3 females, 3-6 (median, 5.2) years old and weighing 9.4-12.4 (median, 10.1) kg. All of the dogs were confirmed as being healthy by clinical examination, complete blood cell count, serum biochemistry, abdominal radiography and ultrasonography. All the dogs were cared for according to the principles outlined in the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals approved by the College of Bioresouce Sciences, Nihon University.Anesthesia: The dogs were premedicated with atropine ...

Gallbladder Agenesis in 17 Dogs: 2006–2016

“…Gross visualization identified APSCs around the left kidney in 5 of 17 dogs. The SPP was measured in 7 of 17 dogs and found to be in the range of 5–13 (median, 7) mmHg; 2 of 7 dogs with formation of APSCs had SPP of 8 and 13 mmHg, which is considered high in comparison with previously reported mean SPP of 6.2 ± 0.8 mmHg in healthy dogs . There were no instances of positive bacterial growth in the 7 of 17 dogs in which liver tissue samples were obtained.…”

“…The SPP was measured in 7 of 17 dogs and found to be in the range of 5-13 (median, 7) mmHg; 2 of 7 dogs with formation of APSCs had SPP of 8 and 13 mmHg, which is considered high in comparison with previously reported mean SPP of 6.2 AE 0.8 mmHg in healthy dogs. 25 There were no instances of positive bacterial growth in the 7 of 17 dogs in which liver tissue samples were obtained. Ovariohysterectomy was performed concurrently in 8 of 17 dogs and an ameroid constrictor was placed in 1 of 17 dogs with CPSS.…”

Hepatorenal arterial resistive and pulsatility indexes in dogs with ascites

“…The most common complication of cirrhosis is ascites, which may result either from severe portal hypertension or combination of moderately increased portal blood pressure and hypoalbuminemia (Arroyo and Colmenero, 2003;Sakamoto et al, 2012;Zhai et al, 2015). It is also reported that resistances to hepatic and renal arterial blood flows increases in cirrhotic patients (Rivolta et al 1998b).…”

“…The prognosis of patients with dilutional hyponatremia, refractory ascites and hepatorenal syndrome is extremely poor. Therefore, several studies have been carried out to determine both systemic hemodynamics and renal function for predicting the survival in humans (Arroyo and Colmenero, 2003;Sakamoto et al, 2012;Zhai et al, 2015). The occurrence of these diseases in dogs are unknown due to the absence of adequate studies in veterinary field (Lamb et al, 1999).…”

Blood Flows in Tributaries of the Portal Vein: Anatomical and Angiographic Studies in Normal Beagle Dogs

“…Atypical hepatectomies, especially partial or complete lobar resections, require an accurate knowledge of the internal liver structures (Bismuth, ; Niza et al., ). Liver haemodynamics in the dog, especially regulation of the portal venous blood flow and pressure both to the liver and within the liver, have been investigated in many studies (Colle et al., ; Sartor et al., ; Dave et al., ; Sakamoto et al., ). This knowledge is of paramount importance when the blood supply within the liver is modified, for example by portosystemic shunts or liver surgery (Lee et al., ; Furneaux, ).…”