In one hundred patients treated with artificial pneumoperitoneum, the present author studied on hepatoptosis and some related problems during the treatment. For the purpose of this study 326 roentgenograms were measured and following results were obtained:
1) In more than half of the films (61.4%) taken in upright position, hepatoptosis was observed and its degree was generally within 5.0 centimeters.
2) In a majority of 35 patients (91.4%), whose roentgenograms were taken both in upright and in supine position, the elevation of the liver was observed by changing position from upright to supine, the degree of the elevation ranging from 5 to 10 centimeters. This fact indicates that the liver of the patients is not ptotic in supine position.
3) Hepatoptosis in itself did not always inhibit the elevation of the diaphragm.
4) In cases having adhesion between liver and diaphragm, the degree of the elevation of the diaphragm was not good in general, of these cases, however, some with string adhesion showed the great elevation of the diaphragm after more than twenty treatments, others showed more greater elevation of the diaphragm in supine position than in upright, as a result of discharge from the weight of the liver.
5) No correlation was found between the degree of hepatoptosis and the intraperitoneal pressure.