Intrahepatic spontaneous portosystemic venous shunt: Value of color and power Doppler sonography

Spontaneous portosystemic venous shunts (SPVSs) within the hepatic parenchy ma are rare. Fewer than 50 cases have been reported, and most of them were diagnosed by angiography. We present a case of SPVS diagnosed by color Dopp ler sonography in a 5-year-old boy admitted for bleeding due to rupture of esophageal varices. Conventional color and power Doppler sonography as well as CT showed a large shunt between the posterior branch of the right porta l vein and the inferior vena cava. We believe that accurate diagnosis and f ollow-up of SPVS can be done with color Doppler sonography without resortin g to angiography. (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.