Ftom August 1988 throughoul deccmber 1992 nine children with bleeding esophageal varices were treated by sclerotherapy. Portal thrombosis was present in five cases and chronic liver disease in the remaining four. Five patients had previously been treated in other cenlets for their bleeding episodes. Intravaricose cyanoacrilate was successfully used in three children with active bleeding. The eradication of esophageal varices was accomplished in all nine patients with 1 % polidocanol weekly

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... tions into and around the varicose vessels. New bleeding from esophageal varices was not observed along treatment, but one palient bled from subcardial varices and a gastric devascularization procedure was necessary. No complications lhat could be attributed to sclerosis of esophageal varices were observed during the period of eradication. Average patient fellow up time was 19 months, range 3 to 52 months. New bleeding episodes and esophageal stenosis have no! been detected in any p*a*ien! along follow up. Scleiotherapy seems to be a good alternative form of treatment in children with symptomatic portal hypertension. (Key words: esophageal and gaslric varices, sclerotheicpy.) La hemorragia digcstiva por varices esofagicas (VE) cs relativamente infrecuente en nifios. Su incidencia varia con la cdad, la mayoria dc los sangramienios ocurrc antes de los 10 afios, son excepcionales en el primer aflo de vida 1 . Su letalidad es dc 5 a 9% en nifios con obstruccion dc la vena porta y considcrablemente mayor en casos con cirrosis hepatica de base 2 . La hipertension portal se irato cldsicamente mcdiante derivacion portosistemica, hasta que el procedimiento se asociara a elevada morbilidad por cncefalopalia hepatica 3 -6 , lo que favorecio el desarrollo de otras opciones de tratamiento como la escleroterapia de las varices, que se venfa realizando desde 1939 7 y se introdujo en 1959 a la pediatria 8 . El objetivo de cste trabajo fuc estudiar