title: Portal vein thrombosis; risk factors, clinical presentation and treatment.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Portal vein thrombosis (PVT) is increasingly frequently being diagnosed, but systematic descriptions of the natural history and clinical handling of the condition are sparse. The aim of this retrospective study was to describe risk factors, clinical presentation, complications and treatment of portal vein thrombosis in a single-centre.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty-seven patients were identified in the electronic records from 1992 to 2005. All data were obtained from the patient records.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One or more risk factors (e.g. prothrombotic disorder or abdominal inflammation) were present in 87%. Symptoms were abdominalia, splenomegaly, fever, ascites, haematemesis, and weight loss. Abdominalia and fever occurred more frequently in patients with acute PVT. Frequent complications were splenomegaly, oesophageal- and gastric varices with or without bleeding, portal hypertensive gastropathy and ascites. Varices and bleeding were more frequent in patients with chronic PVT. Patients who received anticoagulant therapy more frequently achieved partial/complete recanalization. Patients with varices who were treated endoscopically in combination with beta-blockade had regression of the varices. The overall mortality was 13% in one year, and was dependent on underlying causes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Most patients had a combination of local and systemic risk factors for PVT. We observed that partial/complete recanalization was more frequent in patients treated with anticoagulation therapy, and that regression of varices was more pronounced in patients who where treated with active endoscopy combined with pharmacological treatment.
authors: Department of Medicine V (Hepatology and Gastroenterology), Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus C, Denmark. kks@dce.au.dk
authors: Kirstine K
authors: KK
authors: Sogaard
authors: Lone B
authors: LB
authors: Astrup
authors: Hendrik
authors: H
authors: Vilstrup
authors: Henning
authors: H
authors: Gronbaek
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000925:Anticoagulants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001201:Ascites / Q000453:epidemiology; D015984:Causality; D002423:Cause of Death; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D005334:Fever / Q000453:epidemiology; D006471:Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology; D011169:Portal Vein / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery; D011859:Radiography; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013163:Splenomegaly / Q000453:epidemiology; D015996:Survival Rate; D014463:Ultrasonography; D014648:Varicose Veins / Q000453:epidemiology; D020246:Venous Thrombosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*
chemical_list: D000925:Anticoagulants
references: Hepatology. 2000 Mar;31(3):587-91
references: 10706547
references: J Hepatol. 2000 May;32(5):865-71
references: 10845677
references: Hepatology. 2000 Sep;32(3):466-70
references: 10960436
references: Acta Ophthalmol Scand. 2000 Oct;78(5):523-6
references: 11037907
references: Gastroenterology. 2001 Feb;120(2):490-7
references: 11159889
references: Gut. 2001 Nov;49(5):720-4
references: 11600478
references: Semin Liver Dis. 2002 Feb;22(1):43-58
references: 11928078
references: Endoscopy. 2002 Jul;34(7):535-8
references: 12170404
references: Gastroenterology. 2002 Oct;123(4):1013-9
references: 12360462
references: Hepatogastroenterology. 2003 Nov-Dec;50(54):2098-100
references: 14696472
references: J Hepatol. 2004 May;40(5):736-41
references: 15094219
references: Gut. 1990 Feb;31(2):213-6
references: 2311981
references: Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 1998 Jan;10(1):81-5
references: 9512958
references: Lancet. 1999 Apr 3;353(9159):1167-73
references: 10209995
references: Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2005 Jan 1;21(1):1-9
references: 15644039
references: Br J Anaesth. 2005 Mar;94(3):324-9
references: 15608046
references: Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2005 Jul;17(7):705-7
references: 15947546
references: J Hepatol. 2005 Jul;43(1):167-76
references: 15925423
references: Acta Radiol. 2005 Jul;46(4):336-43
references: 16136689
references: World J Surg. 2005 Aug;29(8):966-73
references: 15981047
references: Hepatology. 2006 Apr;43(4):690-7
references: 16557539
references: World J Gastroenterol. 2006 Apr 7;12(13):2115-9
references: 16610067
references: Scand J Clin Lab Invest. 2006;66(4):329-36
references: 16777761
references: J Gastrointest Surg. 1997 Mar-Apr;1(2):123-30, discussion 130-1
references: 9834338