Color Doppler sonography of intrahepatic vascular shunts.

PURPOSE: To illustrate the sonographic and Doppler features of the different types of intrahepatic vascular shunts.

METHODS: Patients presenting in our department with intrahepatic vascular shunts with healthy livers or with a variety of liver pathologies underwent color Doppler interrogation and spectral analysis.

RESULTS: Intrahepatic vascular shunts may involve all liver vessels. Arterioportal and arteriosystemic venous connections can be recognized in normal and cirrhotic livers, following trauma, within tumors, and within nontumoral arteriovenous malformations. Portosystemic intrahepatic venous shunts are categorized into 4 morphologic types. Systemic-to-systemic shunts are more often recognized in patients with chronic hepatic venous congestion or with Budd-Chiari syndrome. Portal-to-portal intrahepatic venous shunts are rare, with few cases described.

CONCLUSION: In general, all the liver vessels can be associated with formation of arterioportal, arteriosystemic, and portosystemic venous shunts and, rarely, systemic venous shunts and portal-to-portal communications. Sonography allows characterization of the different intrahepatic shunts.