Management of surgical splenorenal shunt-related hepatic myelopathy with endovascular interventional techniques

We present a case with hepatic myelopathy(HM) due to a surgical splenorenal shunt that was successfully treated by endovascular interventional techniques.A 39-year-old man presented with progressive spastic paraparesis of his lower limbs 14 mo after a splenorenal shunt.A portal venogram identified a widened patent splenorenal shunt.We used an occlusion balloon catheter initially to occlude the shunt.Further monitoring of the patient revealed a decrease in his serum ammonia level and an improvement in leg strength.We then used an Amplatzer vascular plug(AVP) to enable closure of the shunt.During the follow up period of 7 mo,the patient experienced significant clinical improvement and normalization of blood ammonia,without any complications.Occlusion of a surgically created splenorenal shunt with AVP represents an alternative therapy to surgery or coil embolization that can help to relieve shunt-induced HM symptoms.