Congenital porto-pulmonary shunt in a dog

Abstract

Congenital extra-hepatic porto-systemic shunts (CEPS) are a non-rare vascular anomaly observed in dogs, most commonly in small and toy pure breeds. Computed tomographic angiography (CTA) examination is considered the gold standard imaging modality for the diagnosis of anomalous vascular connections. An anomalous congenital porto-pulmonary shunt was incidentally diagnosed in a 5-year-old French Bulldog. The anomalous vessel originated from the ventral aspect of the portal vein and went cranially towards the esophageal hiatus, entering the lobar vein of the caudal left pulmonary lobe. The dog did not show any significant clinical or computed tomography angiography-perceived hepatic abnormalities and no signs of portal hypertension were evidenced. No case of porto-pulmonary shunt in veterinary medicine have ever been reported, while in humans it was rarely described secondarily to portal hypertension, severe hepatopathies or complex cardiac malformations. CTA must be considered the best imaging modality for the diagnosis also of unusual CEPS and in the author's opinion the congenital porto-pulmonary shunt described in the patient was of little or no clinical relevance.