Intrahepatic portal-venous shunts during PVE

Abstract

Portal venous embolization (PVE) is a well-validated technique to promote contralateral liver lobe hypertrophy prior to hepatic resection. We present a case of a patient with Type IV cholangiocarcinoma undergoing PVE prior to hepatic surgical resection. However, intrahepatic portal-venous shunts were incidentally found during the procedure and were subsequently embolized using embolic coils and N-butyl cyanoacrylate. While most patients with congenital portal-venous shunts remain asymptomatic, an unrecognized shunt during PVE could have resulted in a devastating complication secondary to nontarget embolization through the fistula.To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of a portal-venous shunt being discovered during a PVE. Keywords: Portal venous embolization (PVE), Cholangiocarcinoma, N-butyl cyanoacrylate, Portal-venous shunt