[Initial experiences with peritoneo-venous shunting by means of the Le Veen pressure-sensitive valve in the treatment of refractory ascites].

Of all different surgical treatments of ascites, the peritoneo-venous shunt actually seems to be the less risky method. Our short experience confirms the success of this method, but also its contradictions and reveals a little known complication: the thrombosis of the superior vena cava. Its superiority over the lympho-venous anastomosis has been proven in one of our patients.