Abstract
RECURRENT HEMORRHAGE from esophageal and gastric varices can be prevented by a portacaval shunt which remains patent and reduces the portal pressure to a normal or near normal level. 1 Such an operation should improve the prognosis for a patient with cirrhosis of the liver and varices which have bled. 2 There are skeptics, 3-5 however, who feel that the natural course of cirrhosis of the liver, in such cases, is so grave that portal-systemic venous shunts are unlikely to alter the longtime survival rate. It is difficult to find reports of comparable cases treated by shunts or by medical therapy and followed for a significant period of time. It is for this reason that we report our experience with 42 patients who have been followed five or more years. Twenty-one patients were not operated on, and 21 were treated by portacaval ( 19) or splenorenal (2) shunt. Two- and three-year
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