title: A case of idiopathic portal hypertension associated with rheumatoid arthritis.
abstract: A 53-year-old woman who had been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis was found to have thrombocytopenia, splenomegaly, and gastric varices. She was diagnosed as having idiopathic portal hypertension on the basis of liver biopsy and angiography. Treatment with prednisolone was not sufficiently effective for thrombocytopenia. After transabdominal devascularization with splenectomy, thrombocytopenia subsided and gastric varices disappeared. In this case, the autoimmune mechanism as well as hypersplenism was suspected of being involved in the mechanism of thrombocytopenia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine II, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, 1 Hikarigaoka, Fukushima, 960-1295, Japan. sasaji@fmu.ac.jp
authors.forename: Tomomi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sasajima
authors.forename: Tomohiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ichii
authors.forename: Mayumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tai
authors.forename: Hironobu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ochiai
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ejiri
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Hiromasa
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ohira
authors.forename: Katsutoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Obara
authors.forename: Yukio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sato
mesh_terms: D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000150:complications*; D004932:Esophageal and Gastric Varices / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006975:Hypertension, Portal / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D013156:Splenectomy; D013921:Thrombocytopenia / Q000628:therapy; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed