The pathologic anatomy of the portal venous system as it is associated with various diseases of the upper abdomen has assumed increasing importance in recent years. As a clearer understanding of the mechanisms involved in the production of portal hypertension has developed22 and as experience with the reduction of portal venous pressure by shunting procedures has accumulated,7,16 accurate techniques for the preoperative evaluation of existing abnormalities of this venous system have become more necessary. This report is concerned with our experiences with one of these procedures, percutaneous splenoportography, in 120 patients examined over a period of three and a half years. Of these, 93 were patients in the University Hospital, and 27, in the Veterans' Administration Hospital, Ann Arbor. Radiographic visualization of the portal venous system by direct injection of contrast material into a tributary of the portal vein at the time of laparotomy has been used advantageously