Purpose or Case Report: Abnormalities of the portal venous system are a heterogenous group which include congenital anomalies and changes in portal vein secondary to iatrogenic causes or inflammatory and neoplastic conditions. Detailed knowledge of the normal embryology, anatomy of the portal vein and its variants is crucial in the understanding of portal vein anomalies. Identification of normal or variant portal vein anatomy is important part of pre surgical and pre liver transplant evaluation and helps minimize post-surgical/interventional complications.
Methods & Materials: We present an overview of the normal embryology and anatomy, congenital and acquired abnormalities of the portal venous system. We will discuss and illustrate the imaging features of portal vein abnormalities on US including Doppler, CT, and MRI. The anomalies discussed include portal vein atresia, congenital absence of portal vein, portosystemic shunts (Abernethy malformation), portal vein thrombus, portal venous gas and total anomalous pulmonary venous return with infra diaphragm drainage into portal vein etc.
Results:
Conclusions: The spectrum of abnormalities of the portal venous system is broad with key to success being a detailed understanding of normal embryology and anatomy. Awareness of normal variants and knowledge of the characteristic imaging findings of congenital and acquired portal venous anomalies is crucial for accurate diagnosis and adequate planning of surgical and interventional procedures, hence reducing substantial morbidity and mortality in the patients.