Vein surgery. Coloured angiogram (X-ray) of surgery to lower the blood pressure in the portal vein of a 58-year-old woman. A catheter (black line running down from top centre) has been used to form a channel (shunt) between the portal vein, which moves blood from the digestive system to the liver, and the hepatic vein, which carries blood away from the liver. A stent (curved wire mesh tube, brown) is holding this TIPSS (transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt) open. The high blood pressure may be causing oesophageal bleeding or abdominal ascites (fluid build-up). The vertebral bones are seen as red blocks.