CONGENITAL INTRAHEPATIC PORTOSYSTEMIC VENOUS SHUNT - SONOGRAPHIC AND MAGNETIC-RESONANCE-IMAGING

We report an intrahepatic portosystemic venous shunt (IPVS) detected b y ultrasound in an asymptomatic newborn. The lesion, which was further documented using color Doppler ultrasound and magnetic resonance imag ing (MRI), had almost totally disappeared 6 months later without any t reatment. Intrahepatic portosystemic venous shunts (IPVS) are uncommon and their etiology is controversial. Some cases of IPVS have been rep orted in the literature, most of them in adult patients with portal hy pertension and cirrhosis of the liver [1-3]. However, only scattered r eports describe IPVS in the absence of liver pathology [4-8]. A revisi on of the proposed etiologies of IPVS is made and the usefulness of gr ay-scale and color Doppler sonography and MRI in diagnosing IPVS is di scussed.