Side-to-side portacaval shunt versus nonsurgical treatment of Budd-Chiari syndrome.

Although a side-to-side portacaval shunt will relieve some patients with Budd-Chiari syndrome, distinction between relief as a result of operation and spontaneous recovery may be inexact. A nonshunting operation relieved one of two patients as much as a side-to-side portacaval shunt did. In these two patients and one additional patient, streptokinase therapy may have been beneficial.