Pathophysiology of liver circulation with an overview of medical and invasive treatments

Abstract

Liver hemodynamics is characterized by a dual venous and portal blood supply whose physiologic variations are particularly evident during digestion. In the normal subject portal blood flow is laminar with the left liver receiving the blood from the small intestine while the left liver is supplied by the blood from the spleen and colon. In pathologic conditions increased arterial blood flow accompanies the decreased portal flow. Portal hypertension in its various forms is the most frequent and important circulatory alteration in chronic liver disease; besides the "organic" obstacles to the hepatic blood flow there are the dynamic mechanisms which regulate the vascular resistance in the microcirculation Therapies which impact on liver circulation are surgical, of interventional radiology and medical, used in the prevention and cure of complications of portal hypertension.