A report of 4 cases of left-sided portal hypertension treated successfully with splenectomy

Abstract

We report four cases of gastric varices caused by splenic vein occlusion treated successfully with splenectomy. The mean age of patients was 55.8 years (53-60 years old), all were male. The symptoms are gastrointestinal bleeding in three cases and asymptomatic in one case. The causes of splenic vein obstruction are pancreatitis in two cases, pancreatic cancer in one case and splenic malignant lymphoma in one case. Splenectomy was performed in all four cases, and they had no complications after that. Gastric varices had disappeared in all patients in the postoperative upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. No recurrence of gastric varices was seen in all four cases and splenectomy was considered to be a useful treatment.