[Surgical treatment of hepatosplenic bilharziosis in the Ivory Coast. Apropos of 34 cases].

Portal hypertension due to hepato-splenic bilharziasis is common in Abidjan, where we operated on 34 cases in 15 years. The indications for surgical intervention include gastrointestinal haemorrhage due to rupture of esophageal varices, a very bulky enlarged spleen and, more, rarely, recurrent ascites. Simple splenectomy (9 cases) suppresses discomfort and pain, corrects the hypersplenism and brings about a moderate reduction of portal pressure. Spleno-renal anastomosis (19 cases) remains the operation of choice. The long-term results, difficult as these are to assess under ill-regulated African conditions, appear satisfactory on the whole, due to less serious damage to the hepatocyte than in the cirrhoses (62% Child A and 29% Child B). We therefore continue to advocate splenectomy followed if possible by a spleno-renal shunt in bilharzial portal hypertension.