[Imaging of collaterals and their impact on portal venous flow in patients with liver cirrhosis].

When the portal hypertension syndrome occurs, patients with liver cirrhosis develop three major collateral blood flow pathways. These are gastroesophageal, splenorenal, and paraumbilical ones along the recanalized umbilical veins. Only both the splenorenal pathway of blood return from the portal venous system, which considerably reduces portal blood flow volume and the paraumbilical one that increases portal blood flow are of hemodynamic significance.