Sources of Venoarterial Admixture in Portal Hypertension*

It has been shown that cirrhosis of the liver is often accompanied by admixture of venous blood to the arterial blood, sometimes to a degree pro-ducing cyanosis (1-8). Two possible routes have been demonstrated morphologically: intrapulmo-nary arteriovenous shunts (2, 9), and channels connecting the portal circulation through esophag-eal and mediastinal veins with pulmonary veins (10, 11). The aim of the present study was to evaluate the physiological significance of these communications. MATERIALS AND METHODS The sex, age, and clinical data of the 20 patients ex-amined are presented in Table I. Eighteen patients had cirrhosis of the liver, the diagnosis in all cases confirmed by