Hepatic encephalopathy due to congenital splenorenal shunts: report of a case.

A 76-year-old Japanese woman with hepatic encephalopathy was successfully treated for congenital splenorenal shunts by surgical intervention. The flow volume of the splenorenal shunts was 800 ml/min with a shunt pressure of 9.8 mmHg. The portal pressures before and after the shunt resection were 9 mmHg and 12 mmHg, respectively. The portal flows before and after the shunt resection were 230 ml/min and 470 ml/min, respectively. Therefore, both the hepatic sinusoid and the portal vein might provide good compliance for an increased portal flow volume load after shunt resection.