Radioisotopic splenoportography in patients with portal hypertension

Radio-isotopic splenoportography was performed by injecting 99mTcO4- into the spleens of 46 patients with portal hypertension and 14 patients with various disorders not having portal hypertension. No collateral circulation was demonstrated in the 14 patients without portal hypertension whereas some RI-images of portosystemic collaterals were found in 40 (87.0 per cent) of the 46 patients with portal hypertension. Collaterals were divided into an ascending group and a descending group, the appearance rate of ascending collaterals being 80.4 per cent and that of descending collaterals, 41.3 per cent. There were 3 image patterns in the ascending group, namely, an AZ-pattern in which the azygos vein was demonstrated; a SC-pattern in which the RI-bolus ascended along the esophagus to the neck and the subclavian vein; and an EG-pattern which showed stagnation of the RI-bolus in the esophagogastric region. There were 4 patterns in the descending group, namely; a pattern of gastro-renal caval shunt (GR-pattern); reverse flow patterns into the umbilical or paraumbilical veins (UV-pattern); into the superior mesenteric vein (SMV-pattern); and into the inferior mesenteric vein (IMV-pattern). The appearance of the EG-pattern was seen most frequently (74.4 per cent). The usefulness of this method for surveying the collateral circulation in portal hypertension, estimating the risk of esophageal variceal bleeding and evaluating its treatments, was suggested by the results of this study.