Radiographic evaluation of patency of interposition mesocaval shunts.

The technique of side-to-side mesocaval anastomosis with the interposition of a prosthetic graft was described in 1970. We report the result of venographic evaluation of patency of this type of shunt in our patients. Demonstration of an unoccluded graft; resistance to retrograde injection of dye against the blood stream into the superior mesenteric vein; rapid clearing of dye from superior mesenteric vein following injection and "lamellar flow defect" in the vena cava above the site of anastomosis during vena cavogram, were considered criteria of patency of the interposition mesocaval shunt.