Drug Disposition in Liver Disease

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Abstract
Several studies, including that by Piafsky and his colleagues on theophylline in the current issue of the Journal, have demonstrated that drug disposition can be altered in patients with liver disease.1 Many of the reported changes can be rationalized in terms of the pathophysiology of disease and the known physiologic determinants of hepatic drug clearance.2 The basic biochemical process involved may be defective as a result of acute or chronic injury. This defect can be quantified as the intrinsic clearance, which may be defined as the volume of liver water cleared of drug in unit time. In addition, plasma . . .