Spontaneous porto-femoral shunting in long-standing portal hypertension.

Spontaneous portosystemic shunting is a compensation mechanism that is supposed to relieve the portal circulation from high pressures. Here we report an unusual shunt that originates from a patent paraumbilical vein and reaches the femoral vein via the inferior epigastric vein. Despite being merely anecdotal, this finding is fascinating from an anatomical point of view.