[Control of surgical portosystemic shunt in children using computerized duplex sonography].

The major postoperative question is whether or not the shunt is patent. We demonstrate the possibilities of the postoperative controls of shunt patency with computer Duplex scan. Direct visualization of the shunt only is not a good parameter for shunt patency and function. An early postoperative control of shunt patency is possible by a Duplex sonographic investigation including flowmetry of the shunt, the portal vein, the hepatic artery and the hepatofugal collaterals. In this article we demonstrate the change of the portal system after a portosystemic shunt is made. If the shunt is patent, we found a decrease of the diameter, the time average velocity and the flow of the portal vein and the hepatofugal collaterals. These parameters can be used as indirect signs of patency.