[A rare mesentericocaval shunt in a case of alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency]

We report the rare case of a 27-year-old man with decompensated cirrhosis of the liver caused by a deficiency of alpha-1-antitrypsin. The patient was scheduled for liver transplantation. Diagnostic procedures prior to surgery revealed an unusual hepatofugal collateral channel with a marked mesenterico-, lieno-, and renocaval shunt. Since the liver cirrhosis had already been manifest during early infancy, this shunt had formed spontaneously without developing esophagogastric varices.