Abstract
BACKGROUND: The prehepatic form of portal hypertension is the most common cause of portal hypertension in children. Nowadays mesoportal shunting is the most optimal therapy for such pathology. In the world literature, there are only few publications describing application of such surgical technique in children of the first year of life.
CLINICAL CASE DESCRIPTION: The article describes a case of a 7-month old child with prehepatic portal hypertension who had mesoportal bypass surgery. A month before the surgery, the child had an episode of gastrointestinal bleeding which was treated conservatively. Additional diagnostics before surgery included liver and spleen ultrasound examination, transarterial mesenteric portography, and esophagogastroduodenoscopy. The child was discharged home on the 6th postoperative day. For three months after the surgery, he received antiplatelet therapy and proton pump inhibitors. In 3-months, follow-up ultrasound showed satisfactory blood flow through the shunt. Patient’s weight gain had also a positive trend.
CONCLUSION: Mesoportal bypass surgery is technically achievable in children of the first year of life. In our opinion, patient’s age has a positive impact on creating a functioning mesoportal shunt: the younger the patient, the greater the likelihood of favorable outcome.