Abstract: Objective The aim of this study was to estimate the changes and clinical significance of indocyanine green (ICG) clearance test in patients with chronic viral hepatitis, liver cirrhosis and liver failure. Methods A total of 87 patients with chronic liver diseases including chronic viral hepatitis in 9, liver cirrhosis in 69 and chronic liver failure in 9 were hospitalized in the Department of Infectious Diseases, First Hospital affiliated to Shanxi Medical University between November 2017 and August 2019. The ICG retention rate at 15 min(ICG-R15), ICG plasma clearance rate (K value) and effective hepatic blood flow (EHBF) were measured by DDG-3300K analyzer. Meanwhile, all the patients received blood hepatic functions, routine blood tests, abdominal color Doppler ultrasound, abdominal CT scan or MRI scan. The Child-Turcotte-Pugh(CTP) scores were calculated for classification. Results In patients with chronic liver failure, the ICG-R15 was (54.2±11.6)%, the K value was (0.04±0.01)/min, and the EHBF was (0.2±0.1)L/min, significantly different compared to 【(7.4±1.7)%, (0.22±0.05)/min and (0.9±0.3)L/min, respectivel, P<0.05】 in patients with chronic hepatitis; in 11 patients with liver cirrhosis CTP class C, the ICG-R15 was (39.3±8.9)%, the K was (0.06±0.02)/min, and the EHBF was (0.3±0.1)L/min, significantly different compared to【(28.8±12.6)%,(0.10±0.03)/min and (0.4±0.2)L/min, respectively,P<0.05】 in 39 cirrhotic patients with CTP class B or 【(12.2±2.8)%,(0.16±0.05)/min and (0.7±0.2)L/min, P<0.05】 in 19 patients with CTP class A.Conclusion The ICG clearance test could reflect liver reserve functions, and it might be a dynamic parameter for liver function evaluation if we test it often.

Key words: Liver cirrhosis, Liver failure, Indocyanine green clearance test, Liver reserve function, Child-Turcotte-Pugh classification