Wall composition analysis of the human hepatic artery by intravascular ultrasound.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to elucidate the wall layer appearance of the human hepatic artery shown by intravascular ultrasound (IVUS).
Methods: We evaluated the wall layer appearance of 57 human hepatic arteries from 36 cadavers. The thickness of the inner high-echoic layer and the second low-echoic layer of the arteries was measured by IVUS, and it was compared with that of the arterial intima and media, respectively.
Results: The thickness of the inner high-echoic layer was 0.2 ± 0.1 mm and that of the second low-echoic layer was 0.4 ± 0.1 mm, on IVUS. However, the histological thickness of the intima was 120 ± 45 μm and that of the media was 258 ± 71 μm. The media of the hepatic artery correlated significantly with the second low-echoic layer on IVUS (r = 0.62, P < 0.01). The diameter of the vessels measured on IVUS correlated significantly with that of the histological specimens (r = 0.89, P < 0.01).
Conclusion: From our results, the three layers of the hepatic artery detected with IVUS may correspond to the intima, media, and adventitia, respectively.