Arteriographic Studies of Splenic and Hepatic Arteries in Portal Hypertension

The radii of the splenic and proper hepatic arteries were estimated by means of selective celiac arteriography in cases of portal hypertension and of splenomegaly without portal hypertension. The results were evaluated in comparison with normal arteriograms. The estimated radii of the splenic arteries were in satisfactory agreement with the histometrical ones. It was concluded that the splenic and hepatic arterial flow could be proportional to the 2.7th power of the radii of the respective arteries on arteriograms, as in the histometrical study.1, 2 In cases of portal hypertension and appreciable increase in the radius of the splenic artery was demonstrated. In splenomegaly without portal hypertension, as in idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, hemolytic jaundice, such an increase in the radius of the splenic artery was not observed. In portal hypertension, the radius of the splenic artery could be correlated with the splenic weight, portal pressure, the grade of decrease in the portal pressure after splenectomy and the length of the splenic artery. In cases of liver fibrosis, dilatation of the splenic artery was not usually accompanied by dilatation of the proper hepatic artery, whereas in liver cirrhosis with or without giant splenomegaly, dilatation was noted not only in the splenic artery but also in the proper hepatic artery as well.