Peritoneovenous shunts: predictive factors of early treatment failure

Death or uncorrectable shunt malfunction occurred within 4 months in a majority (23) of 39 consecutive alcoholics who had peritoneovenous shunts. Clinical, biochemical, and operative variables in these patients were reviewed to detect factors that might predict early failure. Hepatorenal disease, expressed as the sum of total bilirubin and creatinine greater than 4 mg/dl, characterized 15 of 18 early deaths and was a reliable preoperative criterion of clinical outcome (p less than 0.001). Except for prothrombin elevation, abnormal coagulation indices did not predict early failure. Encephalopathy was more prevalent in patients who died (p less than 0.05). Among operative variables, failure to drain ascites was associated with more hospital deaths (p less than 0.05) and documentation of venous catheter placement in a central location reduced likelihood of early shunt malfunction (p less than 0.001). Preference for the LeVeen or Denver shunt did not affect the rate of early shunt malfunction. The overriding predictive factor was hepatorenal disease, both obvious and occult, by which judicious patient selection may avoid early death in surgical palliation for intractable alcoholic ascites.