[Portacaval anastomoses in the basin of the left internal spermatic vein in patients with varicocele].

The article deals with the findings obtained in a roentgenological examination of the left renal vein and left internal spermatic vein in a total of one hundred and eighty-three 16-to-46-year-old patients presenting with varicocele. Analysing the roentgenograms revealed that four patients had portacaval anastomoses in the basin of the left internal spermatic vein (ISV), with the blood flow being directed from the system of the portal vein into the system of the venae cavae. Retrograde contrasting of the inferior mesenteric veins showed a sharp deceleration of the contrast medium to the portal vein with an apparent obstacle to the blood flow in the projection of the intersection of the inferior mesenteric vein, lower contour of the pancreas and the aorta. In two cases, the "mesentericospermatic" venous shunt into the system of the left ISV was the only visible cause of varicocele.