Professor Leger is eminently qualified to write about splenoportography. He performed the first human splenoportogram in 1951 and has, since that time, accumulated a unique personal series of 2,000 cases. Unfortunately, his monograph, which should be the definitive article in the field, fails for two reasons: a clumsy difficult style and a complete absence of bibliography.
Following the introductory chapters on techniques and complications, the normal and abnormal splenoportograms are systematically presented. The author discusses and illustrates obstructive lesions of the splenic vein, the portal vein, the intrahepatic circulation, and the hepatic venous drainage. For each site of obstruction, he details the associated collateral circulation. Chapters on undiagnosed splenomegaly, pancreatic masses, celiac adenopathy, and benign and malignant hepatic lesions stress the diagnostic value of splenoportography apart from the bleeding cirrhotic. There is an interesting comparison of postoperative splenoportograms following end-to-side and side-to-side portocaval shunts.
In spite of the author's extensive