Medical Dictionary
Main Entry:
Le·Veen shunt Pronunciation:
l&-'vEn-'sh&nt Function:
noun : a plastic tube that passes from the jugular vein to the peritonealcavity where a valve permits absorption of ascitic fluid which is carried back to venous circulation by way of the superior vena cava
LeVeen, Harry Henry (1914–1996),American surgeon. LeVeen served as professor of surgery at the State University of New York and later at the Medical University of South Carolina. His major areas of research included vascular surgery,liver physiology, and portal circulation. Experimental testing of the LeVeen shunt was first done using animals in 1972. Use of the LeVeen shunt on human beings began in 1976. In that year the shuntwas introduced by way of a paper read before the American Surgical Association.
