Abstract
Percutaneous portography was used in place of conventional intraoperative mesenteric portography to diagnose portosystemic shunt in 3 dogs. One diagnosis was performed by means of percutaneous jejunal arterial portography; the remaining 2 by means of retrograde caudal venography. For percutanous jejunal arterial portography, a coaxial catheter was introduced into the jejunal artery. Iopamidol was the contrast agent in a dose of 1.0 ml/kg, X-ray photographs were taken after injction of the contrast agent. For retrograde caudal ventography, an occlusion balloon catheter was inserted from the external jugular vein to the caudal vena cava. In this case, sodium iotalamate (1.25ml/kg) was the contrast agent. X-ray photographs were taken after its injection. As a result of these procedures, diagnosis of the quality of portograms was good enough to make a definite diagnosis of portosystemic shunt in all 3 cases.
