[Presinusoidal portal hypertension in post-hepatitis cirrhosis]

Two cases of very probable post-hepatitis cirrhosis are presented. Both were complicated by presinusoidal portal hypertension (P. H. T.), the peroperative portal pressures measured directly being much higher than the wedged hepatic venous pressures. Although post-sinusoidal P. H. T. is the usual complication of most types of cirrhosis, these two cases support recent studies reporting the possibility of pre-sinusoidal P. H. T. in post-hepatitis cirrhosis. The wedged hepatic venous pressure is not a reliable indicator of portal pressure in these cases. The presence of presinusoidal P. H. T. does not exclude the diagnosis of cirrhosis but makes that of alcoholic cirrhosis very unlikely.