[Results of partial splenic resection and transposition to the lateral abdominal wall in portal hypertension in childhood].

Between 1977 and 1995, 19 children with portal hypertension (nine extrahepatic, ten intrahepatic) were treated by transpositioning the spleen into the left abdominal wall. Among the patients with intrahepatic portal hypertension three died. Two patients underwent secondary diminuition of the transposed spleen due to relapsed hypersplenism. In one of our first patients the transposed spleen atrophied after tangential resection. All surviving patients except one preserved hepatic function. The serum colloid osmotic pressure was stable. Plasma ammonia levels were normal. Serum immunoglobulins (IgG, IgM, IgA and IgG subclasses) and complement components (C3c, C4) were analyzed. After transposition patients had normal or slightly elevated values of these proteins compared with controls.