A liver shunt is a blood vessel that carries blood around the
liver instead of carrying blood through the liver. A liver shunt
problem is mostly congenital. A dog may also acquire multiple
small shunts from a severe liver disease, such as cirrhosis.
There are basically two kinds of liver shunt conditions that are
possible – congenital liver shunt and acquired liver shunt.
Congenital Liver Shunts The liver function is not needed in
utero. The mother’s liver performs functions like filtering,
production of proteins and storage of sugar for the unborn baby.
There is a large shunt in mammalian fetuses that carries blood
from the fetal liver to the heart. This shunt (duct) usually
closes once the baby’s liver becomes operational before or after
birth. In rare cases, this shunt does not close leading to what
is known as a congenital ‘intra hepatic’ shunt. In certain
cases, a blood vessel outside the liver grows abnormally and
remains open while the fetal shunt closes. This condition is
known as congenital ‘extra-he