Objective    To introduce a new method for measuring hepatic reserve function and effective hepatic blood flow (EHBF)

and to assess its clinical significance.     Methods    The correlation between indocyanine green retention rate at 15 min (ICGR

15

) measured by pulse dye densitometry (PDD) and spectrophotometry was analyzed in 92 patients. 1181 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)

85 patients with portal hypertension and 120 patients with hepati

c hemangioma were enrolled in this study. ICGR

15

plasma dye clearance rate (K)

blood volume (BV)

cardiac output (CO) and EHBF were detected by PDD.      Results    ICGR

15

measured by spectrophotometry in vitro in blood samples was significantly correlated with that obtained by PDD method （y=0.789x+2.109

r=0.945

P0.01）. EHBF obtained from patients with HCC or portal hypertension were obviously lower than those from patients with hepatic hemangioma

but ICGR

15

and CO in the two groups were higher than those in the hepatic hemangioma group. The mean value of EHBF from patients with HCC was 1.233 L/min when ICGR

15

was less than 10%. EHBF decreased with the increase of ICGR

15

. K

CO and EHBF in HCC patients above the age of 60 were significantly lower than those in patients below the age of 60.     Conclusion    PDD is a kind of noninvasive

realtime and convenient approach to assess hepatic reserve function and EHBF

which is helpful for surgeons to decide the range of operation.