Cristian Caporali, Laura Turco, Francesco Prampolini, Pietro Quaretti, Marcello Bianchini, Dario Saltini, Francesca Miceli, Federico Casari, Davide Felaco, Juan Carlos García-Pagán, Jonel Trebicka, Marco Senzolo, Gian Piero Guerrini, Fabrizio Di Benedetto, Pietro Torricelli, Erica Villa, Filippo Schepis
- Since the early 1970s several studies have reported distal splenic artery embolization, better known as partial spleen embolization (PSE), as an efficacious treatment of portal hypertensive variceal bleeding and hypersplenism in cirrhosis.(1, 2) However, the effect of PSE on portal pressure is secondary to the induction of splenic infarction. Depending on both the infarct volume and possible infection, PSE can induce serious complications including death.(2, 3) On the other hand, proximal splenic artery embolization (PSAE), which mimics surgical splenic artery ligation, prevents large infarction of the spleen, favoring collateral perfusion of its intact distal vasculature.(3) For this, PSAE has been extensively preferred over PSE for reducing portal hyperflow and treating refractory ascites (RA) after whole or partial liver transplantation (LT).(3, 4) We report here a case of PSAE used to treat RA in a patient with cirrhosis not eligible for transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) and LT.
