Wednesday 19 April 2017

Portal Hypertension Model in Pigs

Portal Hypertension Model in Pigs
Every year in western countries millions of people are diagnosed with portal hypertension (PHT) which rapidly complicates hepatic cirrhosis and causes esophageal varices, ascites and encephalopathy.

This determines higher risk of morbidity and mortality and contributes to elevate costs for the Health Care System. PHT is defined as the elevation of the portal vein pressure gradient over 5-10 mmHg.

Common causes are: Pre-hepatic such as portal vein thrombosis or congenital atresia; intra-hepatic as liver cirrhosis, hepatic fibrosis and less commonly non-cirrhotic causes such as schistosomiasis, massive fatty change and granulomatous diseases; post-hepatic including obstruction that occurs at any level between liver and right heart (i.e., Budd Chiari syndrome and veno-occlusive disease VOD).

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