Assessment of Normal Doppler Parameters of Portal Vein and Hepatic Artery in 37 Healthy Iranian Vilunteers

ABSTRACT

Doppler sonography is a valuable noninvasive method for the diagnosis of various liver diseases. However, there is scarce information on normal parameters of hepatic artery [HA] and portal vein [PV] in Iran. This study was conducted to assess normal Doppler indices of HA and PV in normal Iranian population. In this cross-sectional study, 37 [18 female, 19 male] healthy volunteers aged 20-40 years underwent Doppler sonography after 8 hours of fasting. PV was assessed at crossing point with inferior vena cava in normal respiration and HA in the hepatic hilum. The mean +/- SD PV diameter was 9.36 +/- 1.65 mm. The mean'SD maximum, and mean velocity of PV were 35.28 +/- 16.54 and 27.317 +/- 13.139, respectively. The mean +/- SD peak systolic velocity and resistance index of HA were 67.64 +/- 33.48 and 0.76 +/- 0.07, respectively. Normal Doppler parameters of HA and PV depend on different factors like gender, respiratory phase and technique of measurement and there is no uniform standard technique for these measurements. These factors must be considered when using Doppler parameters for diagnosis of liver disease