DEMONSTRATION OF AN EXTENSIVE INTRAHEPATIC PORTAL CAVERNOMA BY COLOR-DOPPLER ULTRASOUND

We described the case of a 56 year-old man with cirrhosis due to hemoc hromatosis and who had undergone a surgical terminolateral portocaval shunt 17 years previously. The patient was admitted for jaundice. Ultr asonography initially suggested multiple intrahepatic tubular structur es, interpreted as enlarged intrahepatic bile ducts. Pulsed Doppler ul trasonography demonstrated that this spectral waveform corresponded to the intrahepatic extension of a diffuse portal cavernoma. Cavernomato us transformation of portal vein should be suspected when intrahepatic tubular structures are associated with long standing portal vein thro mbosis.