Evaluation of Renal artery resistive index(RI) difference of cirrhotic patients who received Propranolol with whom received Propranolol and Losartan

Portal hypertension is one of the main clinical complications of chronic liver diseases. In only 30% of cirrhotic patients who take propranolol the hepatic venous pressure reduces to under 12 mm/Hg. The results of studies on efficiency of losartan, an angiotensin II receptor antagonist, in reducing portal hypertension is controversial. Hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG) is measured with invasive method of catheterization. Studies have shown that measuring renal resistive index (RI) by Doppler ultrasonography have direct relation with HVPG. Our study population is cirrhotic patients who referred to Ali-ibn-Abitaleb clinic in Zahedan. The study method was self-controlled clinical trial. Thirty cirrhotic patients with considering inclusion criteria were selected for the study. Patients treated with propranolol 10 mg twice a day for one month, then losartan was added to their drug regimen. Renal RI of patients was measured before and after losartan administration. The mean of renal RI for patients treated with both propranolol and losartan (0.659±0.58) was higher than the mean of renal RI for patients treated with only propranolol (0.635±0.597) (P value=0.005). Our results showed that cirrhotic patients who are under propranolol have high renal RI before and after receiving losartan, therefore it doesn`t seems that losartan is an effective drug for reducing HVPG hypertension in patients taking propranolol.