Management of refractory chylous ascites with peritoneovenous shunts

Treatment of refractory chylous ascites continues to be a major challenge. The only currently available PVS, the Denver shunt, had a median patency period of <2 months; it required frequent replacements and resulted in intermittent short-term clinical benefit in one-third of the patients. Improvements in technology to design new shunts, to develop new therapies, or to adopt new techniques to treat chylous ascites are urgently needed.