The Measurement of Liver Circulation by Means of the Colloid Disappearance Rate

Abstract

A method for calculating the liver blood flow by means of the rate of disappearance of colloidal chromic phosphate from the blood has been reviewed. This method has been applied to the study of liver circulation in a group of 29 fasting normal men. The significance of the colloid disappearance rate constant as a physiologic expression of the liver blood flow has been discussed and the average value obtained for this constant in normal young men was 0.287 ± 0.007 min.–1 Extra hepatic colloid localization, hepatic efficiency for colloid removal, speed of mixing, and type and time of sampling have been discussed.