Percutaneous transsplenic catheterization of portal vein: technique and clinical application

Objective To evaluate the feasibility of percutaneous transsplenic portal vein catheterization (PTSPC). Methods Thirty patients with portal hypertension underwent gastroesophageal variceal embolization via PTSPC route, 2 of which simultaneously underwent portal vein stenting. This study included the patients with portal venous obstruction ( tumor embolus or thrombus) or the patients with serious liver atrophy caused by liver cirrhosis. The patients who had severe coagulation insufficiency (with prothrombin time ＞ 20 s) were excluded. Of the 30 patients, 17 had primary hepatocellular carcinoma with main portal venous tumor embolus, 13 had cirrhosis with severe liver atrophy and(or) slight or moderate ascite. Before this study, all of 30 patients had a history of variceal bleeding, and 16 patients had a normal coagulation level, 10 patients had a mildly prolonged prothrombin time (14-17 s), 4 patients had a moderately prolonged prothrombin time (18-20 s). All of 30 patients underwent upper abdomen CT enhanced scanning before this procedure, and the site, direction, and depth of splenic vein branch puncture were decided by CT images. The technology of PTSPC, procedure-related complications, and its clinical application were retrospectively analyzed. Results PTSPC was performed successfully in 28 of 30 patients. Two cases failed because of a small intrasplenic vein. Procedure-related complications occurred in 6 patients (20. 0% ), which had decrease of hemoglobin concentration ( 15-50 g/L). Four of them needed blood transfusion. In the six patients, one patient (3.3%) with abdominal cavity hemorrhage had a serious drop of blood pressure 2 hours after procedure, whose clinical symptoms were relieved after four units of packed RBC and a great quantity of fluid were transfused. Twenty-eight patients whose PTSPC were successfullyperformed underwent variceal embolization, 2 of them were placed with portal vein covered stents. During a median follow-up period of 6 months (range: one to forty-two months), 14 patients died of hepatocellular carcinoma 1 to 12 months after procedure, and 2 patients died of hepatic failure caused by liver cirrhosis at fourteen months and twenty-three months after procedure, respectively. Variceal rebleeding was observed in 4 patients, the cumulative rebleeding rate at 1 year was 14.3%. Conclusion PTSPC is a feasible procedure, which provides a useful route for endovascular treatment of portal vein. However, hemorrhage at the puncture site after procedure should be noticed. Key words: Hypertension, portal;  Punctures;  Embolization, therapeutic;  Spleen; Radiology, interventional