Portal hypertension and esophageal varices in hemangiomatosis of the spleen.

Bleeding esophageal varices and severe portal hypertension developed in a patient with capillary hemangiomatosis of the spleen. No signs of cirrhosis were found at postmortem examination, and preoperative celiac angiography suggested an intrasplenic shunt as the cause of the high portal pressure. Although a very rare condition, this possibility should be considered in the differential diagnosis of esophageal varices.