Historical Review In 1877 Nicholai von Eck opened the era of portacaval anastomosis with a report of experiments involving eight dogs.1He anastomosed the side of the portal vein to the side of the inferior vena cava, then tied off the portal vein at the porta hepatis. He concluded that such a diversion of portal flow could be safely accomplished and proposed that this fistula be used in some cases of ascites. It was not for 26 years, however, that the "Eck fistula" was to be applied to man. Vidal2in 1903 successfully performed the operation for ascites and obtained some benefit but only a four-month survival. Drummond and Morrison3in 1896 and Talma4in 1898 independently described the procedure of omentopexy in which abrasive trauma was applied to omentum, peritoneum, liver, and diaphragm to promote vascular adhesions. Villard and Tavenier5in 1910 and Gunn