The portal hypertension syndrome embraces two separate types of cases: the intrahepatic group, where the blockage is within the liver, and the extrahepatic group, where the obstruction is situated in the portal vein or one of its radicles outside the liver. Opacification and visualization of the portal vein is, therefore, a valuable diagnostic guide to what is essentially a surgical problem. It not only enables a differential diagnosis by demonstrating the site of obstruction but also confirms the diagnosis of portal hypertension, provides information concerning the status of the involved vessels, and indicates the presence of anomalies. Splenoportography, a comparatively recent development, represents a clinically proved, useful, and safe technique for visualizing the portal vein without surgical intervention.
Credit for having first applied the method of portal vein opacification by splenic puncture belongs to Abeatici and Campi,1 who published the results of their test, initially carried out in dogs