Surgical treatment of intrahepatic portosystemic shunts in six cats

The surgical treatment of intrahepatic portosystemic shunts in six cats is described. The preoperative diagnoses were based on the results of abdominal ultrasonography, and mesenteric portography was used during surgery to confirm the diagnosis and establish the morphology of the shunting vessel. In four of the cats the shunt vessel passed through the left division of the liver, compatible with a patent ductus venosus (PDV), in one cat the shunt passed through the central hepatic division and in the other cat it passed through the right hepatic division. During surgery the shunt vessel was manipulated directly either intrahepatically, or post hepatically in the four cats with PDV. In five cats the shunt vessel was partially ligated, and in the other the vessel was completely ligated. The attenuation procedure produced a mean increase in mesenteric venous pressure of 17 cm H2O, with a range from 14 to 20 cm. All the cats recovered from the surgical procedure, but one developed neurological signs shortly after the operation and died from respiratory failure. Four of the cats were clinically normal and required no medication by one month after the operation. One cat required long-term medication to control its continued clinical signs.