The feasible study of vasodilators in portal vein targeting infusion for treating portal hypertension

Objective To find out the ideal portal vein targetting injection routes for portal hypertension treatment.Methods 28 cirrhotic rat models with portal hypertension induced by CCl 4 were divided into 4 groups: inferior caval vein injection group, portal vein injection group, hepatic artery injection group, spleen injection group. The changes in portal vein pressure (PVP), inferior caval vein pressure (ICVP), mean artery pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR) were monitored before and after prazosin injection. Results After intraportal, intra hepatic arterial or spleen injection of prazosin, larger decrease in PVP and lesser effects on MAP than intravenous injection had been induced. The effect on HR showed no difference among these four groups. Conclusions Hepatic artery and spleen prazosin administration have the same advantages on treatment of portal hypertension as those of intraportal infusion, that is the greater decrease on portal vein pressure, the lesser effects on systemic hemodynamics. Vasodilation drugs for hepatic artery infusion through percutaneous port catheter system by hepatic artery implantation would be an ideal method for portal hypertension treatment.