Ultrasonographic evaluation of dimension and hemodynamic parameters of liver vessels in normal children

Objective To obtain the data of dimension and the hemodynamic parameters of liver vessels in normal children with ultrasonography. Methods The hepatic artery and portal vein were assessed with gray-scale sonography and color Doppler sonography in 213 normal children,and parameters including inner diameters of the observed vessels,pulsatility index (PI) and resistance index (RI) of hepatic artery,velocity and volumetric flow of portal vein were measured. All the data were compared with the contiguous groups. Results The values of inner diameter of hepatic artery increased with the growth of children,and the differences between the contiguous groups were significant. RI and PI were relatively invariable parameters. The increases of inner diameter and volumetric flow of portal vein were more significant in younger groups. The velocity of portal vein increased at first and then decreased during the growth. Conclusion The inner diameters and hemodynamic parameters of hepatic artery and portal vein are changeable with the growth of children,which is consistent with the growth characteristics of children.