Intraoperative contrast echocardiography to verify the surgical occlusion of a single extrahepatic portosystemic shunt in a dog

This report details a bubble echocardiographic study carried out during the surgical treatment of a congenital single extrahepatic portosystemic shunt (PSS) in a Labrador Retriever. After celiotomy, agitated saline was injected through a jejunal vein and microbubbles appeared rapidly in the right cardiac chambers. The test confirmed the presence of a PSS, helping the surgeon to identify the vessel concerned and to rule out a second shunt. Successively, portography confirmed what the exploratory celiotomy had revealed before with the aid of the bubble study: a single shunt was located between the portal vein and the right renal vein. It was completely ligated, as all the criteria for this solution were met. Intraoperative contrast echocardiography (ICE) was easy to perform, helpful and undemanding. It is proposed here as an intraoperative ancillary test to diagnose all PSS and to confirm successful treatment when complete shunt closure is possible.