The failure of hepatic artery ligation and splenectomy to influence the course of a patient with ascites due to cirrhosis of the liver.

In recent years a considerable volume of work has been published on the relationship between portal venous blood-flow and hepatic artery pressure in cases of portal hypertension due to cirrhosis of the liver. As a result of this work, ligation of the hepatic artery has been carried out in the treatment of ascites and oesophageal varices, (Reinhoff, 195I; Berman 1951; Berman and Hull, 1952; Madden, I953; Jahnke, Seeley and Palmer, I953; Desforges, Campbell and Robbins, 1953; McFadzean and Cook, 1953). The following account is of a case of portal hypertension due to multilobular cirrhosis, treated by ligation of the hepatic artery and splenectomy.